A serious food safety scandal has just been uncovered in the city of Hải Phòng, shaking public opinion and sounding an alarm about business ethics as well as the competence of regulatory authorities.
On January 7, 2026, Hải Phòng police confirmed the discovery and dismantling of a large-scale operation specializing in collecting diseased pork for processing into canned food products.
At the center of the case is Hạ Long Canned Food Joint Stock Company, a well-known brand in the Vietnamese market, where authorities found more than 120 tons of pork infected with African swine fever stored in warehouses.
The condition of the seized meat was described as horrifying: the pork was leaking fluids and emitting a strong putrid odor, yet it was still being purchased by the company to be processed into food for consumers.
According to Hải Phòng police, for about half a year, collection networks had been actively hunting for diseased pigs to resell. Among the confiscated evidence were around 2 tons of fully processed canned meat products, already prepared for distribution to the market.
This incident has exposed deadly loopholes in Vietnam’s food safety monitoring system. The public has every right to raise sharp questions about the responsibility of state regulatory agencies.
How could such a massive quantity—120 tons of rotten, disease-infected pork—so easily evade veterinary inspection, market surveillance authorities, and economic police? Is there possible complicity or protection from certain officials?
The case at Hạ Long Canned Food Company constitutes a direct crime against public health through the daily meals of Vietnamese citizens, and it may have even become a source of disease transmission.
Public opinion is demanding a serious review of the entire oversight process, and that officials who have neglected their duties must be held accountable and dealt with strictly under the law.
Hồng Lĩnh – Thoibao.de
