Food safety watchdog disproves leech-in-snack rumor

The Vietnam Food Administration (VFA) under the Ministry of Health has released a document to quash the rumor that a snack product manufactured in Hanoi was found to contain strange creatures believed to be bloodsuckers.

The rumor has spread rapidly after a customer in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue bought a pack of Yoyo snack, soaked it in water, and found some creatures she believed to be leeches floating on the water the following day.

The VFA has taken samples of the snack available in the province for tests, and found no parasites of either leeches or other creatures.

This is the second time within a month the food safety and hygiene watchdog has had to dispel a rumor related to the bloodsuckers.

In late September social networks and online forums discussed the alleged information that Chinese traders had split leeches bought from Vietnam into small pieces and put them into milk and other foods.

But the VFA’s tests later proved that it was a false rumor.

As the milk has to undergo a heating process at more than 140 degree Celsius, no insects, parasites, or larva can exist, the watchdog said.