Strengthening food safety assurance in school kitchens

Concerns in the school canteen

The situation of “dirty” food, meals lacking in nutrients or unbalanced menus is no longer strange. However, recently, in some schools, meals that do not ensure quality, using ingredients of unknown origin, still appear, causing concern for parents and insecurity in society.

Quang Nam Food Safety and Hygiene Department conducts many surprise inspections at school canteens. Photo: XH

When old concerns have not been completely resolved, new risks arise: the number of students is increasing, boarding school kitchens are constantly expanding, while the management and supervision of schools and authorities are still limited.

In fact, recently in Quang Tri province, a worrying incident occurred: on September 26, 2025, about 40 boarding students of Kim Thuy Primary Boarding School (Kim Ngan commune, Quang Tri province) showed signs of suspected food poisoning after breakfast with sticky rice cakes.

Immediately after the incident was discovered, the students were taken to medical facilities for examination and timely treatment. Currently, the health of most of the students has stabilized. However, the incident once again sounded the alarm about food safety in school kitchens.

Risk prevention

The incident in Quang Tri shows that just one step of negligence in the control process - from selecting raw materials, preparing, processing to preserving, can lead to serious consequences. In particular, primary school students are still young and have low resistance, so they are more likely to be severely affected when an incident occurs.

Ms. Le Thi Hong Cam, Head of the Quang Nam Food Safety and Hygiene Department, made many important recommendations to prevent food safety risks in schools.

According to Ms. Cam, first of all, educational institutions that organize collective kitchens must strictly comply with the provisions of the Food Safety Law and Decree 155/2018/ND-CP. Schools absolutely must not sign contracts with meal or food suppliers that do not have a certificate of food safety eligibility.

In addition, raising awareness and responsibility is essential. Managers, teachers, staff, students and parents need to be regularly informed about the role of food safety, how to prevent poisoning and foodborne diseases. In particular, it is possible to apply the "5 keys to safe food" recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Regarding school kitchen control, Ms. Cam noted that with kitchens organized by the school itself, even though they are not subject to a Food Safety Certificate, they must still fully comply with food safety regulations, fully implement the 3-step food inspection regime and store food samples according to regulations.

Primary school students' lunch. Photo: XH

With outside contract kitchens, you should only sign with a unit that has a valid food safety certificate, and at the same time require that unit to strictly carry out 3-step food inspection, keep food samples, control raw material sources and preserve food.

In addition, in extracurricular activities or festivals, schools need to coordinate with parents to choose food from reputable establishments with full food safety documents. At the same time, it is necessary to closely monitor products that are distributed for free, promoted or given away in schools. If products of unknown origin or suspected of being unsafe are discovered, they must be temporarily stopped and the authorities must be informed immediately.

On September 20, the Food Safety Department issued Official Dispatch No. 1842/ATTP-NDTT dated September 18, 2025 requesting the Department of Health of centrally-run provinces/cities, the Department of Food Safety of Ho Chi Minh City; and the Food Safety Management Board of Da Nang City to direct functional units to deploy measures to ensure food safety.

The Food Safety Department requires localities to proactively coordinate with functional units in the area to regularly monitor and deploy food safety control measures; organize inspections and supervision of compliance with food safety regulations, strictly control the source of raw materials and food additives in collective kitchens, food service establishments, street food, food around schools; strictly handle cases of violations of food safety regulations and publicize the results to warn the community; mobilize the participation of authorities at all levels, unions and socio-political organizations in the area...

Source: https://baodanang.vn/tang-cuong-dam-bao-an-toan-thuc-pham-tai-bep-an-tap-the-truong-hoc-3305498.html