On the market today there is no shortage of poor-quality bird's nest, counterfeits and products mixed with impurities sold at various prices, making it hard for customers to tell the difference. Fake bird's nest is not only non-nourishing but also harms health through the use of harmful chemicals. So please refer to these tips for choosing quality bird's nest.
Bird's nest is a premium, highly nourishing food and one of the most expensive today. As a result, the market is increasingly competitive, with many poor-quality bird's nest products and mixtures of real and fake that deceive customers who find it hard to tell them apart.
Some crumbled bird's nest mixed with impurities is sold at fairly low prices. Even more dangerously, many companies or individuals sell poor-quality bird's nest and also use chemicals and preservatives to make the product look attractive, deceiving customers into thinking it is genuine bird's nest, and sell it at extremely high prices. Therefore, customers should be vigilant and keep in mind some tips for choosing quality bird's nest.
How to choose quality bird's nest
Bird's nest comes in 2 kinds: dried bird's nest and ready-to-drink bird's nest.
Choosing quality dried bird's nest
For dried bird's nest, there is raw bird's nest that still has feathers and refined bird's nest with the feathers fully picked out (dried or not dried depending on the type). Customers should buy the dried kind because it keeps longer and is less likely to deteriorate. But to buy quality bird's nest that is raw, keep the following in mind:
Genuine bird's nest is ivory white, while poor-quality fake nest is bright white and unnatural. Held up in sunlight, genuine bird's nest is clear and lets light pass through. Fake bird's nest looks slightly cloudy and reflects the sunlight. Genuine bird's nest also has a slightly distinctive fishy smell, while fake nest only smells of fish, eggs or bleach.
As for weight and size, a nest measures 8cm-10cm, with an average weight of 10g per nest (ranging from 3.5g to 12g). If a nest weighs more than 12g, it is very likely a fake, as the seller has deliberately mixed in compounds to increase its weight.
When buying bird's nest, you can test it by burning it. During burning, genuine bird's nest does not give off sparks, whereas fake nest does.
Another easy way to tell the difference is that genuine bird's nest soaked in water does not lose colour and makes the water produce tiny bubbles. Fake nest dyed with colouring fades and dissolves in water. For red bird's nest, when dipped in tea, fake red bird's nest turns dark black. Genuine bird's nest swells to twice its original size when soaked in water. Fake nest soaked in water has hardened strands and expands only slightly from its original size.
How to choose quality ready-to-drink bird's nest
You can look at the ready-to-drink bird's nest inside the jar. If it is quality bird's nest, you will see long, clear strands that are not crumbled. If you see the nest crumbled, there is a high risk that the product uses crumbled nest or has been mixed with gum, aloe vera and other ingredients.
Like raw bird's nest, quality ready-to-drink bird's nest is actually not pure white but a slightly pale yellowish colour. If a ready-to-drink bird's nest product is unusually white, there is a risk that preservatives, bleaching agents or colourings have been used. This is not good for health at all.
Product price
Raising swiftlets at home or harvesting nests from natural island swiftlets are both extremely laborious and require high technical skill, not to mention the meticulous hand-cleaning process, so bird's nest cannot be cheap. Therefore, a tip for buying quality bird's nest is to be wary of cheap nest, as it may be poor-quality or counterfeit. It also cannot be ruled out that some fake nest is still sold at a high price to deceive customers.
Most importantly, buy quality bird's nest from reputable, branded bird's nest stores that guarantee product quality.
Buy quality bird's nest at Yến Sào Sài Gòn
Yến Sào Sài Gòn is a reputable choice for you to trust when looking for quality bird's nest. The ready-to-drink bird's nest lines at Yến Sào Sài Gòn are of guaranteed premium quality, made from genuine bird's nest harvested from natural island swiftlets and reputable swiftlet houses.
The products are carefully hand-picked of feathers and impurities, ensuring absolute dryness for dried bird's nest. We apply steaming according to a modern, closed technology process, ensuring hygiene throughout the production and packaging line. Absolutely no preservatives, bleaching agents, coloring or flavoring are used, preserving the pure nutritional value of the bird's nest intact.
In addition, the ready-to-drink bird's nest lines combine bird's nest with many valuable ingredients such as saffron, cordyceps, pandan and chia seeds… to boost nutrition and bring more precious nutrients for health. For every product, whether dried or ready-to-drink bird's nest, Yến Sào Sài Gòn commits that it is quality genuine bird's nest, and commits to a 200% refund of the product value if customers find and prove that a bird's nest product is fake or poor-quality.
Be a wise consumer when choosing quality bird's nest to look after your health and to give to loved ones, with Yến Sào Sài Gòn.