Chemicals & pesticides in fruits & vegetables....where to find ORGANIC

thuy4tien wrote:

I am so tired of seeing fruits & vegetables grown in chemicals...they.look unnatural large and green.  Vendors LIE through their teeth saying how natural their produce are grown.

Does ANYONE KNOW where I can find produce grown with MINIMAL chemicals?? I prefer organic if possible PLEASE!!  My aging father is sensitive to the chemicals found in Vietnam fruits and vegetables.

Thank you.  Please drop me a line to let me know....of any location that you find of vendors selling organically grown produce.

Then
Thuy4tien00(at)gmail(dot)com

After trying to grow my own fruit for the last 5 years, ( Guava, Papaya, Sake, Mang Cau, Watermelon, etc,), I'm becoming more and more convinced it is practically impossible to grow anything here very well, without using some sort of chemicals , ( I use diluted detergent/chilli sprays ), every year there is a new bug or disease, if your neighbours never look after their tree's, etc, I can only expect their bugs and diseases to invade my trees, etc. This humid environment is perfect for incubating all types of bugs and diseases.

Hi Bluenz......Thanks for the information.  Are you living in HCMC?  Please let me know the addresses of PRODUCE vendors around Q1....How about Q7? 

THANKS,
Tien Tran

thuy4tien wrote:

Hi Bluenz......Thanks for the information.  Are you living in HCMC?  Please let me know the addresses of PRODUCE vendors around Q1....How about Q7? 

THANKS,
Tien Tran

Sorry Tien,  I live 850 kms north of HCMC.

Hi Bluenz.....😀  I understand....noticed you are in Quang Ngai....of course.

Thanks!!!
Tien

Has anyone tried out VEGETABLES LIST OF LADYBUG FARM in D2?
130 Nguyen Van Huong St., Thao Dien

ABCABCABC wrote:

Has anyone tried out VEGETABLES LIST OF LADYBUG FARM in D2?
130 Nguyen Van Huong St., Thao Dien

Thanks.....but is the business really called "LADYBUG FARM"? 😀. let me see if it is there....will let you know....

for premium stuff you should try large supermarkets.

try Maximark in D10 or if you want boutique stuff go to Annam Gourmet in D1 and D2.

the packaging do say they're chemical free. who really knows? but at least the risk is much lower. you should have a pretty good chance with Annam though, as everything seems to be home chef quality.

cossmo wrote:

for premium stuff you should try large supermarkets.

try Maximark in D10 or if you want boutique stuff go to Annam Gourmet in D1 and D2.

the packaging do say they're chemical free. who really knows? but at least the risk is much lower. you should have a pretty good chance with Annam though, as everything seems to be home chef quality.

FANTASTIC!!!  THANK YOU cossmo.   Looks like I now have three (3) places to visit.  As always, I truly appreciate the folks on this Expat-Blog who contributes their knowledge and share their experiences to help others.

no worries. I am sure you'll be happy with Annam produce. the quality and display is better than most I've seen in Australian gourmet shops. the one in D1 has two levels and stock many more products than the D2 store. ensure you have lots of credit on your card or bring lots of million dollar notes.

cossmo wrote:

no worries. I am sure you'll be happy with Annam produce. the quality and display is better than most I've seen in Australian gourmet shops. the one in D1 has two levels and stock many more products than the D2 store. ensure you have lots of credit on your card or bring lots of million dollar notes.

HAHAHAHA.......I understand.  In Vietnam, everyone is an INSTANT Millionaire when they do currency exchanges.... Your wallet becomes FAT but you can only buy so LITTLE!!! 

tyl cossmo

I haven't been there yet; would love to hear feedback if anyone has been:

LADYBUG FARM - Nông trại Cánh Cam
130 Nguyễn Văn Hưởng, Thảo Điền, Quận 2, TP. HCM
Hotline: +84 908 13 12 13
facebook.com/canhcamfarm

I am publishing an eBook on Food Chain Transparency in the October/November timeframe and this is one of my expert domains.

In my opinion, and based on experience, you cannot trust any claims in both developing and many developed countries. The 40% price premium for organic is too tempting for criminals. As a rule of thumb, anything you shell or peel you generally don't need to buy organic. For everything else you have to wash very thoroughly. Fruits such as Apples are one of the most contaminated with pesticide residue. I also monitor the food safety issues between Vietnam and the European Union and VN is one of the top 20 countries on the RED list.

The following vegetables/herbs are regularly rejected on arrival in the EU, the first 5 were at 20% inspected on arrival and as of July 1st 2015, this goes to 50% because of recurring failure. Note, this info is 2 months old and the EU food safety inspector who briefed on this recently in Thailand is a friend will be visiting me in HCMC in September.

- Coriander
- Basil
- Mint
- Parsley
- Okra
- Chili Peppers
- Pitayaha

I am also a member of World Bank Global Food Safety Partnership and a lot of capacity building work is going on in Vietnam and other neighbouring countries. Last month World Bank gave the VN government over USD 50 million for food safety and a former EU member state food safety commissioner and good friend of mine is on a contract under the UN FAO to help the VN government with their food safety regulations.

There is hope - but not anytime soon. Note that in a 2015 international study on pork in one VN province, they found that while pork in VN wet markets was highly contaminated with bacteria and antibiotic residue, the same meat in supermarkets in VN was even more contaminated. Go figure.

Ottvantor wrote:

I am publishing an eBook on Food Chain Transparency in the October/November timeframe and this is one of my expert domains.

In my opinion, and based on experience, you cannot trust any claims in both developing and many developed countries. The 40% price premium for organic is too tempting for criminals. As a rule of thumb, anything you shell or peel you generally don't need to buy organic. For everything else you have to wash very thoroughly. Fruits such as Apples are one of the most contaminated with pesticide residue. I also monitor the food safety issues between Vietnam and the European Union and VN is one of the top 20 countries on the RED list.

The following vegetables/herbs are regularly rejected on arrival in the EU, the first 5 were at 20% inspected on arrival and as of July 1st 2015, this goes to 50% because of recurring failure. Note, this info is 2 months old and the EU food safety inspector who briefed on this recently in Thailand is a friend will be visiting me in HCMC in September.

- Coriander
- Basil
- Mint
- Parsley
- Okra
- Chili Peppers
- Pitayaha

I am also a member of World Bank Global Food Safety Partnership and a lot of capacity building work is going on in Vietnam and other neighbouring countries. Last month World Bank gave the VN government over USD 50 million for food safety and a former EU member state food safety commissioner and good friend of mine is on a contract under the UN FAO to help the VN government with their food safety regulations.

There is hope - but not anytime soon. Note that in a 2015 international study on pork in one VN province, they found that while pork in VN wet markets was highly contaminated with bacteria and antibiotic residue, the same meat in supermarkets in VN was even more contaminated. Go figure.

I'm pleased to hear that, there was an article recently about the arsenic content in rice these days, ( from spraying chemicals ), but if your'e right about the peel/shell thing, we shouldn't have anything to worry about? I still give rice a thorough washing though.

Rice remains an issue even after washing....and the naturally occurring arsenic can be a problem. There are several documented reports of high levels in products like rice cakes intended for children. The other lessor known problem is that cooking rice does not kill all of the bacteria. Once left outside the fridge the bacteria starts to multiply as bacteria flourishes at 》23c. VN people may have the gut bacteria to tolerate this but non VN may experience stomach problems and a dose of the quick step.

Ottvantor wrote:

Rice remains an issue even after washing....and the naturally occurring arsenic can be a problem. There are several documented reports of high levels in products like rice cakes intended for children. The other lessor known problem is that cooking rice does not kill all of the bacteria. Once left outside the fridge the bacteria starts to multiply as bacteria flourishes at 》23c. VN people may have the gut bacteria to tolerate this but non VN may experience stomach problems and a dose of the quick step.

I'm lucky, I only get bloated, luckily I don't eat a lot of rice, but it might explain why my dog eats a lot of grass, ( it makes them throw up ), he eats more rice than I do.
In parts of Central Australia, there is a high arsenic count in the groundwater as well.

DON'T FORGET.... the poison products imported from China.  I've heard of HORROR products like:   fake soysauce; fake dried squids; old tainted meat (post date 40 yrs ago !!); fake eggs; etc...

This is the reason why I get sick EVERYTIME I visited Vietnam....

THANK YOU EVERYONE for your insights and information.  I will try to find these places and buy as much organic as I can....

thuy4tien wrote:

DON'T FORGET.... the poison products imported from China.  I've heard of HORROR products like:   fake soysauce; fake dried squids; old tainted meat (post date 40 yrs ago !!); fake eggs; etc...

This is the reason why I get sick EVERYTIME I visited Vietnam....

THANK YOU EVERYONE for your insights and information.  I will try to find these places and buy as much organic as I can....

Yup, that's a bit part of my professional world.

heres another small little one at the top end of D1 which is specifically organic.

baobab.vn/

Organic Market  Edit
Thinh Nguyen
08 54124262
132 B Nguyen Cao, P.Tan Phong, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City

veesgi wrote:

Organic Market  Edit
Thinh Nguyen
08 54124262
132 B Nguyen Cao, P.Tan Phong, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City

FANTASTIC.....cam on Trinh !!
I now have 4 places to investigate...thank you very much 😀

Annam Gourmet also have an outlet in D7.
I also wash all my veges and fruit from my local wet market in Phu Nhuan in salt water rather than plain water.

DirtyPierre wrote:

Annam Gourmet also have an outlet in D7.
I also wash all my veges and fruit from my local wet market in Phu Nhuan in salt water rather than plain water.

Thanks!!!  Yes we first wash it in water to remove dirt....then we soak it in slight salt water to remove chemicals...then final soaking to remove the salt....which is why we don't feel safe eating fresh vegetables in restaurants !!!

I will say this the fruit in Vietnam tastes so much better than fruit in the supermarket in Australia and NZ.

Hi, where are you located: Hanoi or HCM? There is some organic available in Hanoi (I have fresh/organic vegetables delivered every week to me). And to be honest: Vietnam can't produce 100% organic because of the soil/ground water in whole Vietnam is so polluted that they will never get fully certified for organic (someone who does the organic certification for Vietnam told me this). I have lived in many places in the world, but this is the worst place I have lived regarding healthy food. It's a shame as Vietnam is such a beautiful country if they put in a little bit more concern for the environment.