Vietnamese man orders mountainous braised pork online, gets pig knuckles shipped from Hanoi

Nguyen Quang Vinh, a resident of My Hao Ward in Hung Yen Province, ordered a four-box combo advertised on Facebook as khau nhuc -- a kind of braised pork belly from That Khe, a commune in Lang Son Province known for the specialty.

The seller described the dish as tender, flavorful and unforgettable, promising customers they could return it if they were not satisfied.

Vinh eagerly heated one of the boxes, intending to share the specialty with his family, only to find two pork knuckle bones and a piece of pig skin soaking in cloudy liquid with an unpleasant smell.

He initially thought he had ordered the wrong product or the delivery service had mixed up his order.

However, the order messages, shipping slip and packaging all identified the product as braised pork belly.

The 'khau nhuc' boxes had no production or expiry dates, barcode, ingredient list, product quality declaration, food safety certification or manufacturer’s address.

When Vinh contacted the seller, he was told that the product could not be returned once the box had been opened.

Disappointed and embarrassed in front of his family, he threw the contents away, saying he had no way of knowing whether the bones had been processed for human consumption.

Checking the shipping details again, Vinh discovered that the parcel had been dispatched from Long Bien Ward in Hanoi, despite being advertised as a specialty from That Khe.

When he tried to contact the seller again, his phone number had been blocked.

Vinh condemned the seller for exploiting the reputation of a traditional local specialty for profit, warning that such practices could threaten food safety and damage the long-standing reputation of Lang Son producers.

Vinh was not alone.

'Lang Son meat' made in Hanoi

Hundreds of online shoppers had ordered braised pork belly advertised as a That Khe specialty but received boxes containing pork knuckle bones instead.

Customers who bought products from a seller operating under the name ‘Bep Z F... D...’ also complained of receiving a few bones, sometimes accompanied by pieces of pig skin with bristles still attached.

After complaints spread on social media, the Facebook pages ‘Bep Z F... D...’ and ‘Dac San Khau Nhuc That Khe Lang Son’ were locked.

Following the sellers’ phone numbers, Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper's reporters traced the products to Z FOOD Deli, a food production company whose facility was located on Phuc Dien Street in Tu Liem Ward, Hanoi.

The site was subsequently found closed, with its premises consisting of a row of rundown kiosks.

A former employee, identified as N.T.T.Tr., told Tuoi Tre that she had joined the company’s kitchen department in July.

Although she had trained in food preparation, she initially worked on packaging products in 400-gram boxes.

She said employees were not informed of the source of the ingredients used for a premium abalone soup product and that the cramped working conditions were inadequate.

The company later switched to producing braised pork belly and Sichuan-style pork knuckles, she said.

She added that employees had repeatedly sought payment of overdue wages, with some owed as much as VND30 million.

After returning to the Phuc Dien facility in September to claim her wages, she found it closed and later heard from former colleagues that production had moved to Long Bien Ward, also in Hanoi, she told the newspaper.

A former food delivery worker subsequently directed Tuoi Tre reporters to another production facility on Xuan Khoi Street in Long Bien.

On October 16, a man identified as N.N.T., who had delivered food to the facility, filmed its interior, where three workers were present.

He provided the footage to the authorities.

The facility was found closed from October 17, with no workers seen arriving, the newspaper reported.

Fake products hurt Lang Son’s traditional specialty

The incident has caused concern among braised pork belly producers and sellers in Lang Son, as consumers have posted complaints about products advertised as the local specialty.

Members of online groups devoted to the dish shared pictures of boxes labeled as That Khe braised pork belly, some bearing a four-star OCOP label, alongside photographs of the pork knuckle bones found inside.

The posts were intended to warn other consumers and express anger at the producers responsible.

Lanh Van Huy, a braised pork belly producer in That Khe, told the newspaper that local businesses had been seriously affected.

Customers who saw the words ‘khau nhuc Lang Son’ might assume that producers in the province were engaging in dishonest business practices, he said.

Chu Tuan Doanh, chairman of the That Khe administration, told Tuoi Tre that the local administration had instructed commune police to investigate after complaints about the products emerged on social media.

He said no household or business in the commune had been found producing or selling the products described in the complaints.

Doanh added that the administration would take decisive action in accordance with the law because the incident had seriously damaged the locality’s reputation and the brand of its traditional specialty.