VietNamNet Bridge -Many housewives no longer purchase fruit that originate from China, especially fruit with eye-catching color and appearance.
Chinese fruits have been flooding Vietnamese markets for many years because they are cheaper and look more attractive than local fruit. Chinese fruits used to be favored by Vietnamese consumers for a long time but nowadays Vietnamese housewives now try to avoid them after some were detected to contain toxic chemicals, used to keep the fruit appear fresh for a long time.
"I dare not to buy yellow bananas which are over 10 cm long and big, or smooth and yellow oranges, which are very eye-catching. I only chose oranges sourced from Vietnam. They look ugly but they are not toxic," said Mrs. Nga from Go Vap district, HCM City.
Nga said she once left a Chinese apple in the fridge for over half of a month but the apple still looked the same as when she bought it.
Though many people "boycotted" Chinese fruit, markets are still flooded with them. At HCM City's Binh Dien market, Chinese fruit account for around 10 percent of the total 180 tons of fruits delivered each day. Most of the fruit are apples and pears. The proportion at other market is also at least 10 percent.
It is said that Chinese fruit sell well to restaurants. Some traders cheat customers by telling them that the fruit are imported from American, New Zealand, Australia, etc.
