Vietnam's grocery chain Bach Hoa Xanh responds to customer complaint over seemingly spoiled sausages

Bach Hoa Xanh said on Friday that the store involved in the complaint is located at 305 Quarter 1, Tan Thoi Hiep Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.

After receiving the complaint, the store reviewed the products concerned and worked with authorities, providing information as requested.

“The inspection and verification process is still underway. Therefore, Bach Hoa Xanh currently does not have sufficient grounds to determine the cause or other details related to the case," the company said.

"If the store concerned is found to be at fault, Bach Hoa Xanh will take responsibility, address the issue, and take strict action in accordance with regulations."

The case was previously reported by a customer, identified as K., who contacted the media and Bach Hoa Xanh, saying he placed an online order from the store at around 5:00 am on September 16 and received it later that day.

The order contained seven items, including three packages of sausages from the same brand. Each package contained five sausages, weighed 175g, and was priced at VND69,000 (US$2.6).

However, when he opened one package to eat, he noticed a foul smell, while some sausages had black and white patches that he suspected were mold.

Bach Hoa Xanh told Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper that immediately after receiving the customer's complaint, it stopped selling all sausages at the store and worked with authorities to inspect the products.

As no signs of mold or other abnormalities were found in products of the same brand, the store resumed selling them on October 1, the company said.

However, when asked about the batch number and brand of the sausages complained about by the customer, a representative of the retail chain said the information could not yet be disclosed because the verification and investigation were still underway.

The Tan Thoi Hiep Ward administration had previously received information about the case, while local police were taking steps to clarify the matter.

A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department told Tuoi Tre that it had received the complaint concerning the Bach Hoa Xanh store and was coordinating with relevant parties to clarify and handle the case.

Bach Hoa Xanh is one of 12 retail chains actively participating in the 'Green Tick of Responsibility' program launched by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade.

The program is intended to strengthen food safety controls, improve transparency in product origins, and prevent substandard products from reaching consumers.

Under the program's rules, if a participating product is found to have quality-related problems, it will be removed from all participating retail chains and subject to additional sanctions under the program.