VietNamNet Bridge – While food poisoning has become a big problem, Vietnam’s ability in testing food and its warning system of risks on food hygiene and safety is very poor.

Vietnam’s largest city - HCM City – is the home to the country’s biggest testing centers, including food testing laboratories, for instance the Center for Quality Measurement and Standards 3, the Institute for Public Health and Hygiene, the Center for Analysis and Testing Services, etc. However, these facilities are unable to test food for toxins. They are only capable to test for substances that clients request.

Dr. Pham Thanh Quan from the HCM City Polytechnics University said that the university has proposed building a laboratory that specializes in testing addictives, chemicals, flavoring, etc. in food but the proposal was not approved because of capital shortage.

Tran Van Ky from the Vietnam Association for Food Safety Science and Technology’s HCM City office said that Vietnam doesn’t have well-trained experts on food testing.

Due to poor ability in food testing, it is a fact that there are different testing results for the same food at different testing centers.

Experts said that Vietnam is passive in detecting incidents related to food safety. It is a newcomer in the international food hygiene and safety warning system. Vietnam only recently received information about this system, said the chief of the Agency for Food Hygiene and Safety Nguyen Cong Khan.

Khan said Vietnam will build modern food testing laboratories in highly-populated provinces and provinces where have problems with food imported through the border.

He also said that a rapid warning system over high risk food will be set up in 2011.

According to a report of the Health Ministry, around 130 cases of food poisoning took place in Vietnam so far this year, with 4660 victims, including 40 deaths. Notably, the reasons for poisoning in nine cases have not been defined yet.

The latest food poisoning case occurred yesterday, December 16, at a company in the southern province of Long An. Up to 208 workers were hospitalized, including 65 critical cases.

PV