Minimize the risk of food poisoning in schools and communal kitchens

On November 5, the Ministry of Health informed that it had sent a document to the Ministry of Education and Training and the Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on Food Safety of provinces and cities on strengthening the work of ensuring food safety in schools and collective kitchens.

According to the Ministry of Health , in recent times, central and local authorities have actively implemented measures to control food safety, inspect, check, and handle many cases of violations of legal regulations by establishments providing ready-to-eat meals and collective kitchens.

However, there are still some cases of mass food poisoning, especially in meals for students at educational institutions and shift meals for workers at businesses, agencies and units.

In the context of providing boarding meals for students in educational institutions being quite popular and diverse in many different forms such as organizing on-site kitchens, buying ready-made meals provided by other units or contracting with businesses to organize kitchens, along with food service businesses, street food around schools attracting a large number of students... is a big challenge for ensuring school food safety.

The Ministry of Health requested the Ministry of Education and Training; the Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on Food Safety of provinces and cities to direct and focus on implementing a number of contents to strictly implement the provisions of the Law on Food Safety, Decree No. 155/2018/ND-CP dated November 13, 2018 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of regulations related to investment and business conditions under the state management of the Ministry of Health on regulations on food safety conditions for food service establishments, street food...

Units proactively develop plans to ensure food safety for collective kitchens at agencies and units in the area; including ensuring that kitchens at schools, collective kitchens in industrial parks/export processing zones, kitchens at medical facilities, food service establishments, and street food establishments must be inspected, supervised, post-inspected, assigned, and fully decentralized for management, ensuring that no omissions are made, and that establishments that do not ensure food safety are not allowed to operate.

Relevant units strengthen inter-sectoral work in inspection, examination, and post-inspection, especially the Health-Education sector, in coordination with the Management Boards of industrial parks/export processing zones, school principals, and leaders of medical facilities in monitoring and inspecting the compliance with food safety regulations from food sources; the process of food processing, preservation, transportation, delivery, three-step food inspection, and storage of food samples in collective kitchens in industrial parks/export processing zones, school kitchens, etc.

The Ministry of Health requires promoting propaganda and education on food safety knowledge and measures to prevent food poisoning suitable for each group (workers, students, officers in charge of food safety, school staff, etc.), paying attention to food hygiene and personal hygiene to raise awareness, change behaviors and habits that do not ensure food safety in choosing, preserving, processing and using food.

The Ministry of Health also requires raising awareness, roles and responsibilities of heads of establishments, collective kitchen organizers, ready-to-eat meal suppliers, owners of food service and street food establishments, especially the Management Boards of industrial parks/export processing zones, school principals, and leaders of medical establishments to ensure sustainable food production and business and responsibility for public health; commending collective kitchens and ready-to-eat meal suppliers that comply with legal regulations on food safety.

Local medical units must prepare plans, standing forces, vehicles, supplies, and chemicals; strengthen training for professional forces in examination, emergency and treatment; handle, promptly overcome, and minimize the impact when food poisoning occurs./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/giam-thieu-nguy-co-xay-ra-ngo-doc-thuc-pham-hoc-duong-va-bep-an-tap-the-post1074999.vnp