Celebrities support fake products
From Ngan 98, Ngan Collagen to Doan Di Bang - a series of famous faces on social networks have been punished for false advertising, causing discomfort to consumers.
Ngan 98 once livestreamed to promote functional foods with firm words like "cyclone effect". After that, she thought she was taking advantage of her image. However, the results of working with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety show that there is only one product eligible for advertising.
Singer Doan Di Bang was also investigated when her husband's company distributed products such as Hanayuki sunscreen, G-Thera masks, shampoos... with the Ministry of Health revoking them due to suspicions of counterfeit goods, incorrect labels or not meeting the index.
On TikTok, Ngan Collagen advertised a series of unlicensed beauty products such as diced apple candy, N-Collagen lemon plus... The Food Safety Department confirmed that it had never licensed these products.
The common point is that they all use personal images to build trust, comparing functional foods with treatment drugs - seriously violating the Law on Advertising and the Law on Food Safety.
Handled but still brazenly sold
Despite being handled, the violating products are still brazenly advertised for sale on many platforms. As of June 2, on the lazada website, the N Collagen Detox N Collagen of Ngan Collagen is still being sold for 520,000 VND/box of 15 pills.
Belly fat-reducing apple candy and weight loss tea N Collagen is still advertised with the words "safe weight loss", "effective detoxification".
Or the Hong Hac Phuc Linh Weight Losscapable Product has been warned by the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) to contain the banned substance Sibutramine. However, as of June 2, on e-commerce platforms, online drug sales sites still advertised for this product at 360,000 VND/box, some places sold 550,000 VND/box of 40 pills.
On the information page of the Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health), from the beginning of the year until now, 22 decisions to recover the receipt of the certificate of registration of the announcement of health food products, recover the certificate of eligibility for food safety conditions that meet the requirements of good production practice, certification of content advertising content of health protection food products ... with 77 products of all kinds. In particular, the number of recalls is concentrated in April and 5.2025, which is the time when many fake foods, fake drugs are exposed and the national peak month against counterfeiting in the field of food and health.
Also on the Department's information page, in 2024, no revocation decisions were posted, in 2023, there were 2 decisions.
The monitoring system is clearly inactive and not a movement, leaving a large gap in the post-inspection stage.
Consequences of "self-declaration of products"
According to Decree 15/2018/ND-CP, businesses are allowed to self-declare functional foods without having to appraise the documents before circulating. This policy has become a "gateway" for poor quality goods to penetrate the market, especially in the context of the small and un equipped post-inspection force.
Director of the Department of Food Safety Tran Viet Nga said: The Ministry of Public Security has dismantled many rings of counterfeiting health protection food. "If businesses comply with regulations, there is nothing to worry about. But for profit, many units deliberately circumvent the law" - she emphasized.
Currently, the Department is proposing to amend the law, and at the same time calling on localities to increase resources for market post-inspection and supervision.
While waiting for strong measures from the authorities, consumers themselves must be vigilant. Many people believe in "winged" advertisements, meticulously cut and edited clips, or celebrity images but forget to check the license, ingredients, or actual reviews from real users.
Carefully check the origin, licensed information and stay away from products advertised as " pharmaceutical". There is no guarantee of safety other than the alertness of consumers themselves.
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan affirmed: "There are no forbidden areas for handling violations. Management of functional foods is a key task in protecting people's health".
She asked agencies to increase periodic inspections instead of just campaigning. At the same time, people need to proactively report violations to contribute to preventing counterfeit and poor quality goods.
