The discovery of facilities producing bean sprouts using toxic chemicals (6-Benzylaminopurine) in Hue and Dak Lak in recent days has caused public outrage.
In Hue, the authorities discovered 750 kg and were “about to be put on the market”. But in Dak Lak, thousands of tons of toxic bean sprouts have been consumed, even sneaking into large supermarkets with the labels “No chemicals”, “For public health” - a blatant lie.
6-Benzylaminopurine is a chemical not on the list of chemicals allowed for use in food, used by production facilities to stimulate bean sprouts to be more succulent, have shorter roots, and be more eye-catching.
However, that attractive appearance is silently poisoning consumers, which can cause acute poisoning, skin damage, conjunctivitis, and long-term, leading to serious damage to the respiratory and internal organs.
The behavior of Vietnamese people "poisoning" other Vietnamese people like this is an illegal and unethical way of doing business, putting profit above the health of their fellow countrymen!
Foods contaminated with toxic chemicals, such as bean sprouts soaked in the chemical 6-Benzylaminopurine, are one of the dietary agents contributing to the increase in cancer rates in Vietnam.
According to the latest statistics from WHO, Vietnam is among the countries with the highest cancer rates in the world, with more than 182,000 new cases and 122,690 deaths each year.
However, the handling of these unethical acts, such as the proposal to only fine 45 million VND instead of prosecuting the bean sprout production facility in Hue, with the reason that "the value of the goods is less than 10 million VND", has raised big questions about the effectiveness and strictness of the law.
“The value of goods is less than 10 million VND” is clearly a legal loophole. Because the 45 million VND fine is not enough of a deterrent and is nothing compared to the long-term consequences it causes to public health.
To thoroughly prevent similar acts, the law needs to be amended to suit the harmful nature of each case.
For the use of toxic chemicals in food, stricter sanctions should be added, even when the value of goods is less than 10 million VND.
Must be strict, like Da Nang, on December 27, prosecuted the case, prosecuted the accused, and temporarily detained Mr. Pham Xu Ty (40 years old; residing in Group 45, Hoa Khe Ward, Thanh Khe District) when discovering that his sausage production facility had nearly 1 ton of various types of sausages (beef sausage, pork sausage, pork skin sausage, minced sausage) that tested positive for borax (sodium borate).
At the same time, authorities need to strengthen inspection, supervision and transparency of information so that people can identify and be vigilant against dirty food.
People also need to be equipped with knowledge to recognize safe food, and at the same time raise awareness to boycott products of unknown origin and poor quality.
We need a more drastic attitude, from practical actions to strict sanctions, to stop dirty food, protect public health and the future of the next generation.
