Concerns about floating frozen foods

Lack of security

Frozen foods on the market are very diverse, most of them are packaged, preserved, and have clear origins. However, many frozen foods are floating around, not fully meeting the criteria of food hygiene and safety, especially in traditional markets.

In early April 2024, a reporter from Hai Duong Newspaper stopped by a frozen food kiosk at the central market of Nam Sach district. Some frozen foods such as sausages and fish balls were packaged and fully printed with information, while the chicken feet were displayed "out in the open" on the lid of a styrofoam box. The color of these chicken feet was not fresh, some were brown after thawing.

When asked about the origin of the chicken feet, the kiosk owner said: "I just bought them from a wholesaler. How would I know where they got the goods?" "So if you don't sell all these chicken feet, what will you do?" - the reporter continued to ask. "Then put them in the freezer and bring them out to sell tomorrow", the kiosk owner innocently replied.

At the end of February, Ms. Nguyen Thi B. (from Tu Ky) bought a frozen octopus weighing nearly 1.3 kg for the first time for 250,000 VND from a street vendor on the side of Provincial Road 391. Ms. B. said: "It was cheap, and I had never eaten it before, so I bought it to try. After boiling it, when I sliced ​​the octopus, the meat was white but in some places it was a bit brown, and there was an indescribable musty smell. I was so scared that I threw it away and did not dare to eat it."

The reporter brought the recorded information to Mr. Tran Dinh Nam, Head of the Department of Food Safety and Hygiene of Hai Duong province, for his opinion. Mr. Nam said that floating frozen foods are very difficult to manage and difficult to trace their origin. Refreezing many times in unsecured temperature conditions will increase harmful bacteria. When the color of frozen foods has changed to brown or black, it means that the protein is decomposing and may contain toxins, making them unsafe.

Managing floating frozen food establishments is very difficult because most of them are small businesses without business licenses. The whole province has hundreds of traditional markets, with a large and diverse range of frozen goods. Meanwhile, sampling and testing are only required for mass-produced goods that are used by many people every day, such as ham, sausage, pork, etc. "To evaluate and make recommendations, we must take 4-5 frozen food samples from each market for testing. But this cannot be done because there are not enough specialized human resources and funding," said a manager in this field.

Frozen foods must be stored at -18 degrees Celsius to ensure safety. However, most small retail stores selling frozen foods in traditional markets do not meet this standard.

Proposal for decentralization of management

Comparing with Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018 of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety, it shows that the management of frozen and chilled meat is under the authority of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hai Duong province. However, the Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Product Quality Management under this department currently has only 7 people, so it is difficult to handle all the work.

Mr. Mai Nhat Tan, Head of the above Department, said that recently the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinated to organize a training course for food safety quality assessors for 38 trainees, including those from the district-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The trainees were equipped with necessary management skills on food safety in their assigned fields. "Because the district level already has assessors, we may soon advise on decentralizing food safety management to the district level. At that time, the District Food Safety Steering Committee will be responsible for managing food in markets, including frozen goods. The commune level will participate in monitoring and propaganda," Mr. Tan shared.

Surely many people still have not forgotten the incident in April 2020 when provincial authorities discovered a cold storage containing more than 70 tons of frozen animal offal products that smelled bad in Chi Linh City. If this facility had not been exposed, many people would have eaten dirty food. No one can be sure that all frozen foods on the market today are safe because there may still be businesses operating illegally or not ensuring food safety conditions.

First of all, consumers need to stop buying frozen foods that are not available, and only use frozen foods with full labels and clear origins from reputable businesses to protect their own health and that of their families.