How long-term food safety corruption can affect ordinary people’s health

I am living in ASEAN. In my country, there is currently a very large corruption case being prosecuted related to food safety.

Two former heads of the Food Safety Authority are on trial, along with several directors of companies that produced fake or unsafe food. On the surface, it looks like the government is doing a good thing. But some people - including me - see something very different.

There were two heads of the Food Safety Authority, and each served about 5 years. That means for roughly 10 years, ordinary people - my family included - may have been consuming fake food and toxic chemicals.

Each bribe was only around  $200–$400, but the total bribe amount reached $3.7 million. Think about it - how much unsafe or toxic food must have been approved during that time?

Another issue is that several company directors were also arrested for paying bribes. But if you look deeper, many of them were forced to bribe just to get licenses approved. Their paperwork would be repeatedly rejected unless money was included.

Even my own family experiences this. When dealing with very small administrative paperwork, we are often deliberately delayed, sent back and forth, and given endless difficulties. Only after giving some money does the process suddenly become fast and easy.

Now I understand why, in my country, cancer and stroke are affecting people at younger and younger ages.

Many people like me see this reality, but it is very hard to speak openly. If you speak out, you risk being labeled as spreading false accusations, being anti-government, or even being called a threat to national security.

My country has only one ruling party, so those in power are not afraid of consequences.