Thai Authorities Shut Down Bogus Fish Sauce Factory

[Garry]

This is headline news???????????????????????????????????????

You're in the land of a fish sauce consuming population, including myself. It is big news for Thai's and consumers alike

i love the taste and the salty flavour it adds

but i'm allergic to it! my hands swell up and itch like crazy. i've only just discovered it was that what was doing it ...

That salty flavor you taste is added salt and MSG (monosodium glutamate or 'pom churot' in Thai). That's a large part of what all the dark colored sauces are at the shops and supermarkets. Few fish have salty taste. The sauces are basically fermented fish entrails, with water and a whole lot of MSG and salt added. If you saw the inner workings of any fish sauce makers, you'd probably swear off the stuff for life. Welcome to Thailand.

Soy sauce is a bit of fermented soy bean, with black coloring, water, and MSG/salt added. Kikoman (from Japan) is comparatively better quality soy sauce, but still has additives. I won't allow MSG in my house. Last year, there was a wedding reception here, and fourteen women (mostly hill tribe, with some Thai) were getting started on the prodigious cooking chores. I saw took two packets of MSG and, with them all watching, I opened them and poured them in the waste can. The looks on their faces were precious.

I haven't heard of anyone being allergic to MSG, but you might check it out. There's a simple way to test for allergens. Take a clean razor and nick your skin, then rub a tiny bit of the item on. If it gets pink (like a pimple) and/or itchy, it probably causes an allergic reaction within your body.

My wife calls MSG, Thai Salt...go figure

[Flatouthruthefog]

I can assure you that the fish used were not bogus. However, they were copies.

Yeah - nice one.

So we have to ask ourselves (or, ideally, the idiot who actually tried - and failed - to write this story properly):

Is the fish bogus? No, it's fish.

Is the factory bogus? No, it produces something, so it IS a factory.

Is the sauce bogus? No. Demonstrably, it is sauce.

My theory - and it IS only a theory - is that there are only 2 problems here. One is that the factory was unlicensed, and secondly our 'Shakespeare-of-the-newsroom' can't spell 'unlicensed.'

But 'Bogus' is easy.

Fits the facts!

[Randee]

I can assure you that the fish used were not bogus. However, they were copies.

Yeah - nice one.

So we have to ask ourselves (or, ideally, the idiot who actually tried - and failed - to write this story properly):

Is the fish bogus? No, it's fish.

Is the factory bogus? No, it produces something, so it IS a factory.

Is the sauce bogus? No. Demonstrably, it is sauce.

My theory - and it IS only a theory - is that there are only 2 problems here. One is that the factory was unlicensed, and secondly our 'Shakespeare-of-the-newsroom' can't spell 'unlicensed.'

But 'Bogus' is easy.

Fits the facts!

dam_n i just re-read and my comment made no sense so i deleted but im simply agreeing with you cheesy. but i still dont get the "bogus fish sauce" bit. in what way was it bogus i wonder??

Edited May 29, 2010 by Randee

[YouYouYou]

Doc Pipat "....has urged the public to call [them] if they find any food or health product to be substandard or have exaggerated advertising."

Whoops, he may regret that!/ even if reported, nothing gets done LOL. (I reckon half of the TV members could 'call them' at least one a day eh with somthing or other LOL)

Either way a refreshing break from the threads of various coloured shirts

Edited May 29, 2010 by YouYouYou