VietNamNet Bridge – City and provincial leaders have been urged to expand food-safety and hygiene model programmes in HCM City, Ha Noi and Central Highlands Dak Lak Province by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan and other leaders.

Health officers inspect greengrocers in Ha Noi's Cau Giay District's Nghia Tan Market. Ha Noi, HCM City and Dak Lak Province have applied effective food safety and hygiene models, helping to curb food poisoning cases nationwide. (Photo: VNS)

Companies have to ensure regulations on food safety and hygiene, including breeding, feeding, slaughtering, water use, pesticides and delivery.

The products would meet the Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGap) standards, Giang said.

The city has co-operated with four companies to set up a model of safe food chains, including Hai Duc Company and Da Lat G.A.P Ltd in Central Highlands Lam Dong Province, which specialises in clean vegetables. They have also worked with Viet Nam Livestock Corporation in Ha Noi and Nam Phong Foodstuff Processing Enterprise in the city's Binh Thanh District.

However, the food from these chains went to large hotels only and was not sufficient to meet the demand of the entire city, Giang said.

Ha Noi has also implemented other methods, including shutting down slaughterhouses that have failed to meet safe food regulations.

Ha Noi authorities have offered loans with preferential interest to owners of small slaughterhouses in the city's inner districts in order to move them to outlying districts.

Larger slaughterhouses in Ha Noi have used modern equipment for butchering animals. They have frozen storage and a standard wastewater treatment system as well.

In Dak Lak Province, the Food Safety and Hygiene Division has set up a food-poisoning prevention model in 14 kindergartens and two tourism areas in Buon Ma Thuot City. Other food safety and hygiene models, including 19 street-food establishments, are operating in Krong Pak District.

Such models have contributed to reducing the number of food poisoning cases nationwide, Nhan said, adding that it was necessary to expand them across the country.

The Viet Nam Food Administration's report showed that 16 food poisoning cases occurred in the entire country in this year's first quarter, killing five people.

Last year, 26 food poisoning cases occurred with 16 deaths in the same period.

According to Nhan, people's awareness on food safety and hygiene has improved, thanks to communication activities.

The Ministry of Health's figures from last year show that the rate of food traders with awareness of food safety and hygiene regulations increased to 73 per cent from 65 per cent in 2008, and for food-processors, 44.4 per cent in 2009 to 79.4 per cent in 2010.

The rate of consumers' awareness also rose from 65.5 per cent in 2009 to 84.5 per cent in 2010.

However, authorities in some localities, especially at the grassroots level, have not imposed stiff penalties, Minister of Health Nguyen Quoc Trieu added.

Nhan asked the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Public Security to issue new fines to prevent violation of regulations on food safety and hygiene.

He told the Ministry of Health to complete the project on food safety and hygiene in the next five years. It will be submitted to the Prime Minister in the second quarter.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade was also asked to complete and submit a project to improve inspections on the quality of imported food.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News