Vietnam’s Ministry of Health, in a report to the National Assembly has said the regulations on its end for regulating supplements and non-traditional medicines (often referred to as ‘functional foods’ in Vietnam) are sufficient in Vietnam and has instead called for greater penalties for advertising unproven health claims and counterfeit goods, Thanh Nien is reporting.
Nguoi Lao Dong has looked at this issue by breaking down several key cases of content creators selling goods online with fake health claims that have led to adverse health outcomes for consumers. A weight-gain milk promoted by TikTok influencer Dinh Thi Cuong, for example, received a number of complaints that it didn’t work and that it had in fact caused ‘diarrhoea, bloating, nausea’.
Conversely, Dan Tri has produced a long form piece looking at the techniques and tactics organisations selling these goods use. This includes using images of legitimate hospitals, doctors, and nurses without permission; and setting up fake hotlines for support from fake doctors and nurses. It also has comments from the Vietnam Functional Foods Association which laments the misuse of the term ‘functional foods’ for fake products, presumably because this damages legitimate actors in the industry (though it doesn’t say this explicitly).
Indeed, advertising of supplements and traditional medicines with questionable health claims is rife in Vietnam. This is despite restrictions already in place that limit what claims can and cannot be made. In this context, it doesn’t look like it’s the size of the penalties that is the problem, but rather enforcement of the law.
See also: Vietnam’s Supplements Market: Overview