Owner of facility producing 800 tons of borax-laced fresh noodles in Ho Chi Minh City arrested

Vuong Luong Toan, owner of the Chau Phat business, admitted to producing fresh noodles with added borax and other chemicals to enhance chewiness and crispiness, having sold over 800 tons to the market.

On 12/1, Vuong Luong Toan, 45, along with Thach Vinh, 21, and Huynh Cam Lai, 44, were temporarily detained by the Ho Chi Minh City Police's Economic Police Department (PC03) for violating food safety regulations.

Vuong Luong Toan (center) at the investigative agency. *Photo: Ho Chi Minh City Police*

Previously, on 16/12/2025, PC03 raided the Chau Phat business in Phu Thanh ward (formerly Tan Phu district), catching Toan and his group red-handed mixing borax, soda, and silicate solution to enhance the noodles' softness, chewiness, and color.

These are all chemicals banned for use in food production.

Noodle production process using borax and chemicals. *Video: Ho Chi Minh City Police*

At the investigative agency, Vuong Luong Toan admitted to using banned substances to produce noodles for about 10 years. Over the past three years alone, the facility had sold approximately 800 tons of fresh noodles containing these chemicals to the market.

Ho Chi Minh City Police are continuing to expand the investigation to clarify the roles of all involved individuals for legal processing.