Miss Grand International 2021 Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien has been temporarily banned from leaving Vietnam from March 15 to May 15 for an investigation into misleading advertising of Kera Supergreens Gummies, a fiber supplement.
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Miss Grand International 2021 Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien. Photo from Tien's Instagram |
The travel restriction was imposed by the Dak Lak Provincial Police, following earlier action against Tien, who was fined VND25 million (US$969) for failing to disclose that her promotional social media posts about the product were sponsored—an apparent breach of advertising regulations.
In Dec. 2024, Tien announced a collaboration with online influencers Pham Quang Linh and Nguyen Thi Thai Hang to launch Kera Supergreens Gummies . On her Facebook account, which boasts over 2.6 million followers, Tien promoted the product, describing it as a convenient and nutritious snack suitable for both children and adults, claiming "a gummy contains a dish’s worth of vegetables."
However, a consumer later discovered discrepancies between the advertised ingredients and the actual content of the product after taking it to the Quality Assurance and Testing Center 2 for testing. The results revealed that the entire 30-gummy box contained only 0.51 grams of fiber, far less than advertised, leading to public backlash.
In response to the complaints, Tien removed the related posts from her Facebook page.
The Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department later released the results of a product test for Kera Supergreens Gummies, conducted at the request of the Ministry of Health’s Food Safety Department. The department confirmed that the test results for the gummies showed the levels of sugar, protein, fat, and energy content "were generally consistent with the official Product Self-Declaration." However, the product’s packaging did not mention fiber content, despite the product being marketed as a fiber supplement.
Given these findings, officials determined that Kera Supergreens Gummies is not a "fake" item.
Tien, Linh, and Hang were later called in for interrogation, during which they all confessed to supplying incorrect details regarding the product. Linh and Hang each received fines of 140 million Vietnamese dong for their deceptive advertisements, whereas Tien offered a public apology.
At just 26 years old, Tien became the first Vietnamese competitor to make history by winning the contest. Miss Grand International title.
