VietNamNet Bridge – Ha Noi's Food Safety and Hygiene Department has proposed to gather food vendors in the capital city at designated places to ensure better management over food safety.

A street restaurant on Tran Hung Dao, Ha Noi. Food vendors are proposed to be gathered up in specified areas to improve food safety. (Photo: VNS)

Under the project, which had funds of VND70 billion (US$3.5 million), the designated food vendor locations would be provided with safe water and standard food processing areas, said head of the Food Safety and Hygiene Department Le Duc Tho.

"Food sellers will be provided with training courses on food hygiene and safety as well as regular health check-ups," he said.

Organising food vendors in fixed places would make it easier to ensure food hygiene and safety, said Tho, adding that food vendors lacked basic facilities and sanitation services and were mobile, making it difficult to inspect and keep their food hygiene and safety under control.

Moreover, gathering food vendors in designated places would help increase food hygiene and safety inspection tasks in the face of a shortage of inspectors, he said.

However, the project's feasibility remains controversial.

Former Director of the health ministry's Department of Food Hygiene and Safety Tran Dang said the model was a good idea which was successfully carried out in many countries such as Thailand and China but it was not easy to do so in Ha Noi, due to challenges such as a shortage of public places, limited clean water supplies and environmental pollution.

Many other countries managed food vendors effectively due to prudent planning and strict punishment, he said.

Meanwhile, nearly half of the fixed food shops in the city have yet to be licensed. Statistics from the department reveal that only 64.4 per cent of more than 18,700 food service establishments in the city were granted with food hygiene and safety certificates.

Pham Thi Luong, a food vendor from northern Hung Yen Province, said she had been selling bun rieu cua (crab noodle soup) along Ta Quang Buu Street in Hai Ba Trung District for many years.

"During this time I earned the loyalty of many regular customers," said Luong.

"I do not want to move to a new place to set up a new business and battle to get new customers.

"Selling food in a fixed place also means I will have to pay a fee that I do not have to pay now."

Nguyen Thi Hanh, a resident in Bach Khoa Ward, Hai Ba Trung District, said she had become used to buying food from street vendors.

"It is more convenient to buy food from street vendors than taking the time to travel to designated locations to find food," she said.

"Street vendors are an important part of the culture of the capital city and there are other ways to manage food hygiene and safety rather than banning them from the streets."

The project will be implemented this year if it is approved by the municipal People's Committee.