Food of unknown origin is freely sold.

Living with dirty food

In Vinh City today, Hung Chinh slaughterhouse is the only centralized slaughterhouse after Nghi Phu slaughterhouse stopped operating in recent years. With a high population density, many markets, supermarkets, and shops, the amount of pork consumed in Vinh City is very large. That is why Hung Chinh slaughterhouse always turns on the lights very early to meet market demand.

However, according to the reporter, the work of ensuring food hygiene and safety at Hung Chinh slaughterhouse still has many shortcomings. Due to being put into use for many years, many items at the slaughterhouse have been degraded. All stages of slaughtering animals are carried out right on the cement floor filled with dirty water. Pork, organs, pig feces, wastewater... are mixed together on the floor, so the risk of pork being contaminated with bacteria is easy to happen.

After being slaughtered, pigs will be loaded onto motorbikes and transported to various places for consumption without being covered, the meat pieces covered with dust during the journey on the road. It is known that on average, this slaughterhouse slaughters 20-30 pigs per day, although there are veterinary staff at the facility to supervise and stamp quarantine, reminders and handling of food safety violations during the slaughter process are still left unanswered.

Nowadays, street food, fast food, and processed food with a variety of dishes are popular with many people, especially young people. However, these are also the items with the most potential food safety risks on the market.

Walking around the streets in Vinh City such as Nguyen Van Cu, Vo Thi Sau, Bach Lieu... it is not difficult to see that cheap buffet shops have appeared quite a lot, attracting a large number of diners. With only about 100,000 VND, diners can comfortably eat "favorite" dishes such as: American beef, pork belly, beef belly, pork belly, stomach, octopus, chicken feet, squid, buttered bread, vegetables, tubers...

According to the reporter's records at a cheap buffet establishment on Vo Thi Sau Street, Vinh City, the dishes are diversely displayed on large trays, marinated with eye-catching spices to both impress diners and to hide the original color and flavor of the food.

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Currently, beef on the market costs over 200,000 VND/kg, pork belly costs 130,000 VND/kg, seafood is even more expensive... yet with only 100,000 VND you can eat these foods freely, causing consumers to question whether the origin of these foods is guaranteed or not? For example, my family tried it once and decided not to come back because the food is mainly frozen, poor quality, some of it has a bad smell... very harmful to the body.

Ms. Phan Tu Thao, Ben Thuy ward (Vinh city)

Currently, this type of super cheap grilled food and hot pot buffet is "making waves" in the market, still attracting a lot of diners, especially young people. It can be seen that subjectivity with dirty food, of unknown origin is still present in a segment of consumers today. Besides, the work of checking these models is still not done regularly and continuously.

According to the assessment of the Department of Food Safety and Hygiene (Ministry of Health), currently, people who directly prepare food and even consumers mostly lack knowledge in ensuring food hygiene and safety. Cheap street food is mostly of unknown origin; restaurants are located on the sidewalk, close to traffic routes, if dust, mold and exhaust fumes such as gasoline contaminate the food, the risk of poisoning will be very high.

Tighten management

On May 28, 2024, a mass food poisoning incident involving more than 70 people occurred at the collective kitchen of MLB Tenergy Company Limited, located at Block 3, Yen Thanh Town, Yen Thanh District. The provincial Department of Food Safety and Hygiene determined that this was a food poisoning incident suspected to be caused by Histamine in fried silver pomfret samples. Workers of the company were hospitalized with symptoms of: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, headache; some cases had scattered red rashes. This is the largest food poisoning incident in recent years.

The Department of Industry and Trade said that the whole province has 48,552 food production, trading and processing establishments, of which nearly 14,000 production and trading establishments are managed by the Industry and Trade sector; there are 24,659 production and trading establishments in the fields of agriculture, forestry and fishery (1,792 establishments are managed by the provincial level, 22,867 establishments are managed by the district and commune levels); there are 9,893 production, processing and trading establishments under the management of the Health sector.

From 2021 to present, the province has recorded 6 food poisoning cases under the management of district and commune levels with 175 people infected, no deaths (in the first 6 months of 2024, there was 1 case of food poisoning in a collective kitchen at Tenergy Garment Company, Yen Thanh district, causing 72 people to be infected).

Although food safety inspection has achieved many positive results, currently food safety control and food poisoning prevention in the province still have limitations.

The current food safety management model in the province is not unified. Management work is assigned to three sectors: Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Industry and Trade. In which, the Department of Industry and Trade does not have a specialized unit and is assigned to concurrently manage food safety for a functional department under the department.

In addition, the management of food production, processing and trading establishments also involves the participation of environmental police and market management forces. Coordination in food safety management is not yet effective, and management at the commune level is even more difficult.

The number of state management documents on food safety is large, issued by many entities, so there is no synchronization between management sectors, sometimes causing difficulties in searching and applying them to serve the food safety management work of the management agency and the production and trading of food by the facility. The business and advertising of functional foods that violate the law, especially on social networks, is complicated, difficult to manage, affecting the rights of consumers...

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Pursuant to Decision No. 934/QD-UBND on inspection of compliance with legal provisions on food safety assurance during the Food Safety Action Month 2024 in Nghe An province, from April 16, 2024 to May 15, 2024, the interdisciplinary inspection team conducted food safety inspections at 23 establishments in the province. Through the inspection, 17 establishments passed, 6 establishments that violated were recorded for violations. During the inspection process, the team also combined propaganda, dissemination and guidance for establishments to properly comply with legal provisions on food safety assurance.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Le - Deputy Director of Department of Health

Mr. Pham Van Hoa - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade said: In order to effectively implement the work of ensuring food safety and hygiene, the unit has proposed specific solutions, focusing on continuing to enhance the leadership and direction of Party committees, Party organizations, agencies, and socio-political organizations in coordinating the implementation of food safety management. Promote propaganda and improve knowledge of food safety laws for business owners, establishments, and people directly involved in food production and trading. Strengthen food safety inspection and examination, promptly detect and strictly handle food production and trading establishments that violate food safety laws.