Candy "contains" a whole plate of vegetables, a miracle drug against stroke

In a December 2024 livestream promoting Kera vegetable candy, Quang Linh Vlogs claimed that "one candy is equivalent to a plate of vegetables." He later apologized for the inaccurate information, misleading consumers.

On March 4, a consumer shared a video showing that he had this vegetable candy product tested at the Technical Center for Standards and Quality Measurement 2 (under the National Committee for Standards and Quality Measurement). The results showed that 30 pills (equivalent to one box) contained only 0.51g of fiber, equivalent to 1/6 of a banana.

As for Thuy Tien, she also posted an apology after the scandal broke out.

Thuy Tien said that before promoting, she was provided with full product certification documents. Therefore, with a licensed product, organizing promotion is not wrong. What is wrong here is excessive advertising.

Many opinions say that the apology should focus on her statement: "Just eating 2-3 pills a day can supplement fiber for a normal person, very convenient", instead of a general reason like "has caused worries and concerns throughout the past time".

In a livestream selling bird's nest on December 15, 2024, TikToker Hang Du Muc advertised "a 70ml jar of bird's nest containing up to 30g of fresh bird's nest", affirming that this is A5 bird's nest, not broken bird's nest. A box of 6 jars costs 187,000 VND (about 31,000 VND/jar). The ingredients of these bird's nest jars only include premium A5 bird's nest, water and rock sugar.

After receiving backlash from industry insiders, Hang Du Muc held a press conference on February 26, admitting to confusing 300mg of bird's nest content with 30g of bird's nest in the livestream on December 15, 2024. Because the content was prepared by an external crew, he did not have time to react and just spoke according to the script.

At the same time, an account appeared on social media sharing about stroke prevention medicine: "Only when you go to the hospital do you see so many people having strokes, even healthy people suddenly have them, so don't be subjective.

I strongly recommend everyone to take this Korean anti-stroke pill while you are still healthy. It will completely prevent stroke, help you sleep well and be alert. It's easy to walk in this cold weather, so be sure to take precautions."

In the boom period of "livestream war gods", false advertising or exaggeration of product benefits is no longer uncommon.

Especially when it comes to health, unverified advertisements or "high-spirited" statements from celebrities can lead consumers to dangerous misunderstandings, even changing their nutritional habits in a way that is detrimental to their health.

Be careful not to bring disaster upon yourself by believing in false advertising.

Speaking to Dan Tri reporter on March 6 , Dr. Nguyen Hung Long, Deputy Director of the Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health) said that this agency has requested relevant agencies to review and inspect the vegetable candy product advertised as "one candy equals a plate of vegetables".

Personally, Dr. Long thinks that the advertisement for vegetable candy is too much. According to recommendations, on average, each person needs to eat about 300g of green vegetables and 100g of fruit per day. With 1 fiber candy like this, it cannot meet the recommended fiber needs.

Discussing the saying "a candy is equivalent to a plate of vegetables" by Quang Linh Vlogs, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam, former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute of Nutrition, said that there is no food or way of eating that can completely replace vegetables.

Fiber products only provide temporary supplementation for people who eat few vegetables or eat poor vegetables during the period when supplementation is needed, such as people with constipation.

"You cannot use other foods to replace vegetables. And you should not use other foods to completely replace vegetables.

Because in addition to fiber, vegetables also contain vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C, which is often lost during the drying process. Vegetable powders or vegetable candies, when processed, only have a small amount of fiber left, and natural vitamins are lost," said Associate Professor Lam.

Currently, fiber supplements have very low fiber percentages or do not clearly state the fiber percentage in the product. Meanwhile, 100g of fresh green vegetables contain a rich amount of fiber, which varies depending on the type of vegetable.

For example: 100g of spinach has about 2.2g of fiber; 100g of water spinach has about 2g of fiber; 100g of broccoli contains about 2.6g of fiber; carrots have about 2.8g of fiber; cabbage has about 2.5g of fiber; Malabar spinach has about 2.1g of fiber and amaranth has about 1.8g of fiber.

"A plate of boiled water spinach weighing 200-300g will have about 4-6g of fiber. So it is not correct to say that a candy weighing only 3.2g has the same amount of fiber as a plate of vegetables," said Associate Professor Lam.

With the modern industrial lifestyle, the consumption of green vegetables in daily diets is on the decline, especially among young people.

According to statistics, the average amount of vegetables and fruits consumed by Vietnamese people is currently only about 218g/person/day, lower than the recommended level of 400g/day by the World Health Organization (WHO).

To make up for this deficiency, many young people turn to vegetable pills or vegetable candies on the market to supplement fiber for the body.

In the Nutrition Pyramid for Vietnamese adults approved by the Ministry of Health, the Institute of Nutrition also recommends the consumption of fruits and vegetables to be 480g-560g/day (equivalent to 6-7 units of fruits and vegetables, each unit is 80g of raw, clean fruits and vegetables, not including waste such as peels, seeds, etc.); in which the consumption of vegetables is 240-320g/day and the consumption of ripe fruits is 240g/day.

Similarly, over-advertised pharmaceutical and functional food products, if abused or used incorrectly, also pose many health risks.

MSc. Dr. Doan Du Manh, a member of the Vietnam Vascular Disease Association, warned that the use of anti-stroke drugs that is currently spreading is unfounded.

Many families buy and use drugs advertised on unofficial channels, even when their family members show signs of stroke. Some drugs such as An Cung come from many different countries (China, Korea, Japan, etc.).

However, there has been no research or publication on the effects of these drugs in preventing or treating stroke. There are only drugs to treat diseases that can lead to stroke complications, such as dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, and arrhythmia.

Some products advertised for stroke prevention contain anticoagulants and Corticosteroids - drugs with anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and immunosuppressive effects.

Corticosteroid abuse can cause serious side effects such as cerebral hemorrhage, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and adrenal insufficiency. Therefore, people need to be vigilant and should not use the drug without a doctor's prescription.

"People should not buy drugs and functional foods online that are of unknown origin and not licensed by the Ministry of Health or the Drug Administration.

"Our life is very precious. If we know how to cherish it, we must have knowledge and maintain it by going for regular health check-ups, instead of buying drugs that are deified and not prescribed by a doctor," Dr. Manh advised.

Tricks to make 'exaggerated' advertising of functional foods still sell well

The Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) said that currently, on social networking platforms such as Facebook, TikTok... there are widespread advertisements for functional foods introduced by TikTokers, KOLs, KOCs and Influencers (people who have influence or lead public opinion) with "miraculous" promises such as helping to lose weight quickly, beautify the skin instantly, or improve health...

A few years ago, people were attracted by advertisements "my family has been around for three generations..." but now they "run" after KOLs and KOCs and believe that the products are good. Celebrities can easily sell products if they are trusted by the community.

Dr. Manh said: "One of the psychological tricks used is to take advantage of the public's trust in celebrities. When they see people they admire using and praising the product, consumers easily trust and buy it without verifying the information."

In addition, the use of advertisements such as "cure all diseases", "instant effect" or "100% natural traditional medicine" appeals to consumers' desire for quick and safe results.

A typical example is the Kera vegetable candy incident. Netizens continuously re-shared images of Thuy Tien, Quang Linh Vlog, and Hang Du Muc together experiencing the lush vegetable garden - considered the raw material for producing KERA candy.

However, according to the inspection results of the Dak Lak Provincial Department of Health, the headquarters of ASIA LIFE Joint Stock Company - the unit producing Kera vegetable candy - does not have any vegetable garden on the company's premises. This unit only produces candy according to the formula provided by the partner, and does not directly grow vegetables as advertised.

Dr. Manh warned: "These tricks not only mislead consumers but also pose potential health risks.

Using dietary supplements of unknown origin or without verification can lead to serious harm, especially when consumers ignore scientific treatments to believe in baseless advertising claims.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/than-duoc-thoi-livestream-vien-keo-chua-ca-dia-rau-thuoc-phong-dot-quy-20250311180335865.htm