Developed by an Academy of Agricultural Sciences and produced by a university...... Nowadays, "highly educated" is also popular in the snack industry and has become a selling point. But are all these propaganda real?
Recently, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Rights Protection Commission launched an investigation into the snack named "90 (zero) Agricultural University Vegetable Roll", and its online sales link was marked with "Northeast Agricultural University", and finally found that the propaganda was not true, and after testing, the measured content of protein and fat of the product did not meet the allowable error range of the national standard.
It is worth noting that a number of foods have been exposed to "academic fraud". So, as colleges and consumers, how to protect their rights?
On December 18, I searched for "Nine 0 (Zero) Nongda Vegetable Rolls" on a shopping platform.
Internet celebrity food "rubbing diploma"
Oatmeal, brown rice, etc. are the hardest hit areas
Recently, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Rights Protection Commission launched an investigation into a snack called "Nine 0 (Zero) Nongda Vegetable Rolls".
This is a puffed food named "Jiu0 Agricultural University Vegetable Roll", which is marked with the words "Northeast Agricultural University" on its online sales link, and the word "Agricultural University" is also printed on the packaging of its products, which seems to be closely related to "Northeast Agricultural University". An investigation by the staff of the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Rights Protection Commission found that the snack was sold on multiple e-commerce platforms, with the highest one selling more than 30,000 pieces.
So, what is the relationship between this hot-selling snack and Northeast Agricultural University?
In this regard, Northeast Agricultural University replied that the school has not carried out any cooperation with the entrusted manufacturer and the entrusted manufacturer marked on the commodity packaging.
In addition, Weng Yuxiao, a staff member of the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Rights Protection Commission, also said that Northeast Agricultural University, as a higher education institution, does not carry out external production and operation, and vegetable rolls are not products produced by the school, and the product publicity is not true.
It is worth noting that previously, the Internet celebrity spicy strip overturned baby was "cleared" by colleges and universities and rushed to the hot search, which aroused heated discussions among netizens.
On the online shopping platform, many stores claim that "Tianwa Spicy Strips" is developed by Hunan Agricultural University and Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and one store has a sales volume of more than 300,000. The relevant person in charge of Hunan Fantianwa Food Co., Ltd. once replied that Fantianwa and Hunan Agricultural University have cooperation, but Fantianwa no longer prints relevant propaganda on product packaging bags, and this is rarely mentioned in external publicity.
In this regard, Hunan Agricultural University and Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences both said that they have no authorized relationship with Hunan Fantianwa Food Co., Ltd., the manufacturer of the commodity.
Not only the above-mentioned puffed food, but also "rubbing the diploma". Food such as cereal and brown rice are also the hardest hit areas for academic fraud.
Previously, the "oatmeal of the Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences", which ranked second on the "Meal Replacement Oatmeal Hit List" on an e-commerce platform, also claimed to be developed by the Agricultural Products Processing Institute of the Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences and recommended by the Taiyuan Dietitians Association, and its sales volume has exceeded 20,000. However, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Rights Protection Commission and the Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences received a reply after verification: the promotional content of this oatmeal is not true, and this product has not been recommended.
A product called "Haofu Oat Bran Ring" claims to be "the research results of oat experts from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Zhangjiakou Academy of Agricultural Sciences for many years", and there is also a product called "Fengheming Slow Carbon Twelve-color Brown Rice", which claims to be "developed by Jiangnan University". However, after the Consumer Protection Committee sent a letter to inquire, these "joint" agricultural universities and agricultural research institutions all unanimously responded that they did not have any cooperation with Internet celebrity food manufacturers.
In addition, this year, the Shanghai Municipal Commission for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests randomly selected 13 kinds of foods sold online that claimed to be developed by institutions such as the "Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Agricultural University", and carried out investigation and verification. Among them, 5 products were clearly denied to be related by relevant institutions, 4 products confirmed their participation in research and development, and the remaining 4 relevant institutions did not make a clear response.
On December 18, an online shopping platform searched for "Tiantianwa spicy strips".
What is the quality of "academic fraud" snacks?
Some quality inspections are not up to standard
In recent years, with people's increasing attention to health management and food safety, there is no shortage of recommended lists of healthy snacks on social platforms, which have become treasure products in the snack industry with their "clean ingredients" and "healthy and nutritious eating without fat" as their promotional selling points.
The reason why some merchants label the snacks they sell as "highly educated" is to make consumers mistakenly think that it is of higher quality and healthier, but what is the real situation?
Recently, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Rights Protection Commission invited the Shanghai Nutritional Food Quality Supervision and Inspection Station to test the nutritional content of the "Jiunong University Vegetable Roll" marked with "Northeast Agricultural University".
The results showed that the measured protein content of this "Jiu Nong University Vegetable Roll" was 7.49 grams per 100 grams, which was lower than the 10.0 grams per 100 grams indicated on the package, and the measured fat content was 21.8 grams per 100 grams, higher than the 15.8 grams per 100 grams indicated on the package. The measured content of protein and fat does not meet the allowable error range of the national standard. Experts at the testing agency recommend that the snack is high in fat, carbohydrates and energy, and that intake needs to be controlled.
In this regard, Shi Rong, a senior engineer at the Shanghai Nutritional Food Quality Supervision and Inspection Station, said that the test results were significantly lower than the labeled content in accordance with the relevant requirements of the national standard, indicating that the consumption of this product was far from reaching its claimed nutritional content, and its fat content was much higher than the labeled value.
Rights protection of scientific research institutes:
Take the initiative to attack "cross-border" anti-counterfeiting
On multiple e-commerce platforms, products developed in the name of agricultural research institutions and agricultural colleges and universities make it difficult to distinguish between real and fake. The Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences found that many products on some e-commerce platforms fraudulently used the logo and title of the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
As early as a year ago, the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences discovered that a store on an e-commerce platform had been selling a Ganoderma lucidum spore powder for a long time, and claimed that only the Ganoderma lucidum spore powder sold in the store was an internal genuine product of the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences. However, the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences did not recognize this, so it entrusted its authorized enterprise to communicate with the e-commerce.
According to Wang Jiawei, marketing director of the authorized enterprise entrusted by the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said: "The customer service lied that the boss was an employee of the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and there was no such situation after our verification with the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. At present, this online store is still selling products under the banner of Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences and our brand. ”
And there is more than one such situation.
Zhou Changyan, Director of the Achievement Transformation Division of the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, also said: "In 2022, we commissioned a law firm to conduct an investigation on the infringement of the use of our logo by some Internet e-commerce platforms, and found that more than 20 stores are still using the logo of the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the sales of products related to the achievements of our Academy of Agricultural Sciences are still used. ”
As a result, the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences decided to defend its rights. Zhou Changyan said, "I entrusted the achievement transformation platform of the two institutes to reflect to the relevant market supervision and management departments. However, this situation still exists, and there is a lack of experience in protecting rights, and the second aspect is actually relatively lacking in terms of human, material, and financial resources, so it is difficult for us to do the corresponding rights protection behavior. ”
In this regard, legal experts said that the chaos of "food of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences" has had a negative impact on the reputation of many agricultural research institutes and infringed on the rights and interests of consumers. In this regard, the market supervision department should take the initiative to attack, and scientific research institutes should also dare to defend their rights.
In this regard, China Consumer Daily also pointed out that academic institutions should step out of the "ivory tower" and the comfort zone of scientific research, and do not hesitate to "cross-border" counterfeiting in response to the infringed facts. On the one hand, respond to social concerns in a timely and positive manner, give consumers a clear and clear answer, and avoid businesses from confusing right and wrong with truth and falsehood, so that counterfeiters have nothing to hide. On the other hand, actively prepare materials, collect evidence, take the initiative to report the illegal acts of "porcelain" merchants to the regulatory authorities, raise the sword of the rule of law to protect rights in accordance with the law, deter the arrogance of counterfeiters without scruples, and return consumers and themselves a justice and fairness, so that the consumption environment is more clear and fair. Consumer organizations can join hands with many infringing academic institutions to not only send letters to investigate, clarify the facts, expose the "porcelain" behavior of online celebrity food, provide consumers with correct and scientific consumption information, and supervise the operation of businesses in accordance with the law, but also encourage academic institutions to speak out in a timely manner, scientifically defend their rights, refuse to "touch porcelain" and "cross-border" anti-counterfeiting, and provide guidance and legal assistance for their righteous actions.
Consumer Activism:
Keep evidence to claim compensation from the merchant or platform
So, how should consumers identify and protect their rights in the case of counterfeiting products of scientific research institutes or directly naming the names of scientific research institutes for counterfeiting?
According to Zhu Qimin, a member of the lawyer expert database of the "Rule of Law Daily" and a partner of Beijing Han Kun Law Firm, the false propaganda of snack manufacturers may lead consumers to have a wrong understanding of food quality, source and other information, and if there are quality problems in food, it may also endanger the health of consumers. In addition, it is difficult for consumers to distinguish the source and quality of the product, which may lead to the vicious result of "bad money driving out good money". Consumers can inquire about the information of the consignor recorded in the food packaging through platforms such as Qichacha, and can also identify the authenticity by querying the food production license number or product standard code, and judge whether it is related to the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
"If the content of the advertisement and the quality of the product do not match the actual situation, then these acts constitute an infringement of the consumer's right to know. Shan Feiyue, a professor at the Law School of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said.
According to reports, the mainland's "Advertising Law" and "E-Commerce Law" both clearly require that business operators must not deceive or mislead consumers, and must not engage in false or misleading commercial promotions. The market regulation departments, consumer rights and interests protection organizations, and e-commerce platforms shall all perform corresponding oversight and management duties and duties to protect consumer rights and interests for such conduct suspected of infringing on consumer rights and interests.
In addition, legal experts suggest that consumers should pay attention to retaining evidence, claiming compensation from merchants or platforms, or complaining to the market supervision and administration department, and filing a lawsuit with the people's court when encountering such incidents.
Integration: Angela Lee