The Department of Health requested the Vinh City People's Committee to inspect food safety on Nguyen Tai culinary street.
After Nghe An Electronic Newspaper published the article “Living miserably on Nguyen Tai “drinking street” on March 24, 2025”, the Department of Health sent a document requesting the People's Committee of Vinh City to inspect the compliance with regulations on ensuring food safety for food service establishments on Nguyen Tai Street, Truong Thi Ward.
On March 27, 2025, the Department of Health issued Document No. 1062/SYT-ATTP on "requesting inspection and handling of the content of Nghe An Electronic Newspaper's reflection" to the People's Committee of Vinh City. The full text of Document No. 1062/SYT-ATTP of the Department of Health is as follows:
"Nghe An Electronic Newspaper on March 24, 2025 published an article"Living miserably on Nguyen Tai "drinking street""Reflecting on the situation of lack of security and order, environmental pollution, traffic congestion, and failure to ensure food hygiene and safety at food service establishments and street food on Nguyen Tai Street, Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City, Nghe An.
Pursuant to Decision No. 112021/QD-UBND dated May 20, 2021 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province regulating the assignment, decentralization and coordination of state management of food safety in Nghe An province, the Department of Health of Nghe An (standing agency of the Provincial Food Safety Steering Committee) requests the People's Committee of Vinh city to direct relevant agencies and units to implement the following contents:
1. Inspect the compliance with regulations on food safety and handle violations (if any) of food service establishments and street food on Nguyen Tai Street, Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City, Nghe An. Notify the Department of Health of the inspection results before April 15, 2025 to report to the Provincial People's Committee and relevant authorities.
2. Strengthen food safety management at food service establishments and street food establishments that are decentralized for management in accordance with legal regulations.
3. The construction of streets/routes with food safety control must ensure compliance with the provisions of Decision No. 1329/QD-SYT dated November 29, 2019 of the Department of Health on promulgating the Criteria Set "Model of streets/routes with food safety control" in Nghe An province.
The Department of Health requests the Vinh City People's Committee to direct relevant agencies and units to fully and promptly implement this.
Regarding the criteria set "Model of street/route with food safety control" in Nghe An province issued by the Department of Health in Decision No. 1329/QD-SYT dated November 29, 2019, there are regulations on the conditions for building "Model of street/route with food safety control". In which, the regulations state that the road must be paved with asphalt or concrete; clean, dust-free and not flooded when it rains. There must be no litter on the roadway, sidewalk... Within a radius of 100m, there must be no breeding grounds for insects such as flies, mosquitoes, rats... there must be no foul odors and polluted smoke and dust".
For food service establishments, 10 criteria must be met, of which criterion 2 stipulates: "There must be closed, covered trash bins at dining tables and processing areas and waste must be removed daily; there must be no trash scattered on the floor or dining tables; there must be a place to wash hands and a toilet with soap for customers."
The food street on Nguyen Tai Street was planned and implemented by the Vinh City People's Committee according to the Project on piloting a walking street, approved in Decision No. 5243/QD-UBND dated September 5, 2019. However, after the food street on Nguyen Tai Street came into operation, the surrounding households (in Block 2, Truong Thi Ward and Binh Yen Block, Hung Binh Ward) repeatedly reported the negative consequences on their lives and requested to stop these activities.
Verification by Nghe An Newspaper reporters shows that food service establishments on Nguyen Tai Street are located in closed ditch No. 2 of Vinh City. Closed ditch No. 2 carries wastewater; the space above and on both sides of the ditch is narrow, unable to arrange sanitary facilities; Nguyen Tai Street is only 8m wide; densely populated houses surround...
Therefore, it can be seen that the arrangement of the system of restaurants and food businesses does not ensure food safety and hygiene, causing environmental pollution, traffic congestion, loss of security and order...
