Strengthen inspection and handling of violations in production and business
According to the Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, based on the 2025 plan of the Central Interdisciplinary Steering Committee on Food Safety, the Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health) has issued a specialized post -inspection plan, focusing on the group of functional food items under its management. Along with that, the Ministry also sent a dispatch to direct localities to strengthen inspections and post -inspections, paying special attention to violations such as manufacturing, trading fake goods, poor quality goods, unknown goods, labels and use of banned substances in production.
Recently, the Ministry of Health continued to issue Official Letter No. 2021/BYT-ATTP requesting localities to coordinate with relevant agencies to control fake food, prevent smuggling, trade fraud and protect intellectual property rights in the field of functional foods.
From January 1 to April 14, 2025, the Food Safety Department deployed 6 inspection teams, post-inspections and fined 5 establishments for a total of 7 violations, with a fine of nearly 370 million VND. In the coming time, the Ministry will continue to deploy interdisciplinary inspection teams in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Phuoc within the framework of the Food Safety Action Month 2025.
In addition to the penalty, the Ministry of Health also plans to strengthen supervision of functional food trading activities on e-commerce platforms, trading floors and social networks. Information technology will be applied to warn of unsafe food, and at the same time publicize the list of violations so that people can clearly understand and avoid them.
Regarding false advertising and misunderstanding about the uses of functional foods, Minister Dao Hong Lan said that the Ministry of Health is coordinating with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to propose amending the Advertising Law to tighten management of products affecting people's health.
Communication activities are also promoted through updating information on penalties, warnings, instructions on poison prevention, product recall, and consulting with businesses on the draft amendment to Decree 15/2018/ND-CP... on official platforms. The Ministry of Health also coordinated with the press to publish a series of articles reflecting the current situation of violations and food safety management.
The Ministry also receives and responds to press reports, supervises content advertising functional foods on social networks, websites and issues official dispatches to competent authorities to handle violations to protect consumers.
Each fake product is the result of a series of sophisticated scams
Consecutive production and trading lines for fake milk, drugs, and functional foods that were dismantled by the Ministry of Public Security have exposed a worrying situation: loose management system, weak monitoring, creating conditions for counterfeit health goods to operate, threatening people's health.
Under the cover of foreign products, fake functional foods are sophisticatedly packaged, using fake anti-counterfeit stamps and fake test sheets to deceive consumers. Not only do they cause poisoning, liver damage, nervous system damage, and even death, these products can easily penetrate official distribution channels and e-commerce. Behind each fake product is a chain of well-organized scams.
The loophole lies in the lack of coordination between management agencies such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Market Management, local governments, etc. The inspection and supervision system lacks connection and cross-checking is rare.
Although major cases have been exposed, many counterfeit products continue to be publicly sold. The subjects take advantage of technology, forge packaging, labels, and even forge testing certificates to deceive both consumers and authorities.
Without strong enough sanctions, a system of smooth control from research to distribution, and no tightening of inter-sectoral coordination, counterfeit goods crimes will continue to operate.
