Health risks from unverified functional foods

Consumers fall into the matrix, sophisticated advertising tricks

According to the Vietnam authorities, the number of people using functional foods is increasing, accounting for 1/5 of the population, with a growth rate of about 15% per year thanks to health care needs. However, this market still faces great challenges in quality management and control of counterfeit and poor quality goods.

Social networks such as Facebook, TikTok, Shopee are flooded with functional food advertisements with promises such as "quick weight loss", "immediate beauty", "increasing vitality". KOLs, KOCs and Influencers continuously appear with attractive promotions. Many consumers buy to use because they believe in advertising, but the results are not as expected, even affecting their health.

Functional foods are becoming a bustling business, but also full of sophisticated advertising tricks. From social networking platforms to e-commerce platforms, consumers are constantly surrounded by promises. During the health care epidemic, many people have fallen into the trap of poor quality products, over-advertising without clear scientific evidence.

One typical case is Kera candy. This product is advertised as a replacement for green vegetables, but the test results of Quatest - Measurement Technical Center (National Committee for Standards and Metrology of Quality) in 100g of the product contained 0.51g of fiber equivalent to 1/6 of the banana. A 96g box of real candy is packaged with 32 tablets, so a candy contains only 16mg of fiber. The Dak Lak Provincial Department of Health inspected the Kera candy production facility and did not find the vegetable garden as advertised. Currently, the authorities are taking samples for testing.

Tiktoker Hang Du Muc was also criticized for over-advertising lutein Ester candy, claiming that it could "prevent myopia". This product is sold at 125,000 VND/box (60 pills) while on Chinese e-commerce platforms, the price is only from 28,000 - 48,000 VND. This raises doubts about the origin and quality of the product.

Cam Khe District Medical Center (Phu Tho) once received a 67-year-old female patient with symptoms of chest tightness, insomnia, and numbness in the limbs after consuming functional foods introduced in a workshop. After drinking until the 5th bottle, this person had more severe symptoms and was forced to be hospitalized.

Beware of "medicine" tricks

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phong - former Director of the Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health) - recommends that functional foods only have the effect of supporting health, and cannot replace medicine. However, many businesses take advantage of the psychology of wanting to recover quickly to advertise untruthfully, even using celebrities to increase reliability. Phrases such as "completely healthy", "razy effects after just a few days" or " 100% natural family medicine" are all signs of inflated advertising, not scientifically verified.

Belief in false advertising not only causes financial losses but also delays proper treatment, even affecting health. Consumers need to be alert and consult experts before using functional foods.

In fact, many products of unknown origin are still popular on online channels. The form of livestream sales, labeling "hand-carried goods", "domestic goods" and promotion by KOLs makes consumers easily deceived. Meanwhile, quality control, especially for smuggled goods, still faces many difficulties.