Food Safety Action Month 2025 (from April 15 to May 15, 2025): Ensuring food security and safety in the new situation

The provincial interdisciplinary inspection team inspected food safety and hygiene at food production and trading establishments in Nam Dinh city.

 

Many positive changes in food safety

 

The province currently has 18,598 food establishments. The Health sector manages 6,187 establishments (accounting for 33.3%), including 1,664 food production and processing establishments, 911 food trading establishments, and 3,612 food service establishments. The Industry and Trade sector manages 2,350 establishments (accounting for 12.6%). The Agriculture and Environment sector manages 10,061 establishments (accounting for 54.1%).

According to the report of the Department of Health on the food safety situation and State management of food safety in the province in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, functional sectors and localities in the province have strictly implemented Plan No. 62/KH-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee to implement Action Program No. 29-CTr/TU dated January 12, 2023 of the Provincial Party Committee on strengthening security and food safety in the new situation. Food safety work in the province has received attention from the entire political system. In particular, the Provincial People's Committee and the Provincial Interdisciplinary Steering Committee for Food Safety and Hygiene have issued 10 documents on directing food safety work; People's Committees of districts and cities have issued 145 documents directing food safety work in the area.

The quality of food products in the province is managed and controlled, contributing to improving the effectiveness of State management, creating favorable conditions for people and businesses to conduct production and business activities; maintaining stable production. The Health sector has chaired and coordinated with relevant sectors to carry out 17 food safety inspections to serve cultural and political events in the province; including inspecting and supervising 6,050 establishments; handling 275 establishments, fining 275 establishments with over 669 million VND. The main violations are: not having enough separate utensils for raw food and processed food, processing places with harmful insects and animals; people directly processing food not wearing hats, masks, not cutting their nails short; trading in imported goods with original labels in foreign languages ​​but not with secondary labels in Vietnamese; not posting prices; not performing 3-step inspection; Sewers and drainage ditches are not covered; food additives of unknown origin; trading in goods of unknown origin, expired; no shelves; waste collection tools without covers. Violating goods, confiscation and destruction are mainly animal products that do not ensure food safety and do not have documents proving their origin, drinking water, instant noodles, bottles of seafood sauce of unknown origin, expired...

Clearly defining the motto "Communication goes first, paving the way", activities to disseminate and propagate legal regulations on ensuring security and food safety are focused on and promoted; promptly informing, propagating, praising businesses, honoring products that ensure good food safety quality, organizations and units with good achievements in ensuring security and food safety; launching a mass movement to denounce acts of violating security and food safety; boycotting products and goods that do not ensure food safety.

Recently, the health sector has implemented a model of collective school kitchens to control food safety and hygiene at preschools; distributed 61,000 leaflets promoting food safety. The work of building and connecting safe food supply chains continues to receive attention, with many resources dedicated to supporting establishments/enterprises to consolidate, expand and build new production and consumption chains. The whole province currently has 42 safe agricultural, forestry and fishery food supply chains; 134 establishments, enterprises and production areas maintain quality management programs (VietGAP, HACCP, ISO, organic, ASC) that have been recognized for application.

The provincial interdisciplinary inspection team inspected food safety and hygiene at food production and trading establishments in Nam Dinh city.

 

Strictly handle food safety violations

 

In addition to the achieved results, the State management of food safety in some communes, wards, towns and some areas is still weak, especially the management of chemical use in livestock farming, cultivation, food processing for small-scale, seasonal production, street food business, food safety in markets; the control and prevention of food products of unknown origin, not ensuring food safety... are not very effective.

The authorities of some localities have not fully understood the importance of food safety quality management; they have not really paid attention and been determined in leading, directing and prioritizing resources for food safety implementation. The coordination between all levels and sectors in food safety management is not really close and regular; the participation of organizations and unions in monitoring, propagating, mobilizing, detecting and denouncing food safety violations is still limited. "People have not promoted their responsibilities and rights as consumers in detecting and fighting against food safety violations. Many people are still too easy-going in choosing to buy and use unsafe food, using cheap, floating food despite knowing the risk of food poisoning and food-borne diseases that can occur" - said Mr. Hoang Vu Loi, Head of Food Safety and Hygiene Department, Department of Health.

Comrade Tran Trung Kien, Director of the Department of Health, said: Based on Plan 59/KH-UBND dated April 3, 2025 of the Provincial People's Committee on implementing the "Month of Action for Food Safety" in 2025, the Department of Health presides over and coordinates with departments, branches, and People's Committees of districts and cities to actively implement it. The Department has developed a plan and proactively coordinated with relevant departments, branches, and units to organize communication activities and disseminate knowledge about food safety and the State's legal documents on food safety and hygiene quality management. Prepare equipment, chemicals, and human resources for sampling and testing to detect the causes of food poisoning. Establish 3 interdisciplinary inspection teams to inspect localities in implementing food safety assurance work; inspect food production, business, and advertising establishments in complying with legal regulations on food safety and hygiene quality.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment strengthens inspections of vegetable and meat production and trading establishments, seafood and agricultural product processing establishments, and livestock and poultry slaughterhouses. Guide and encourage the production of agricultural products and food with guaranteed quality and safety, build and develop a chain model for clean and organic agricultural production, apply high technology, control food safety right from the input factors, in which focus on planning clean vegetable growing areas, concentrated livestock farms, develop livestock associated with plans to ensure ecological environmental hygiene, quickly and widely apply advanced technological processes in cultivation and livestock to produce high quality products, ensure a source of quality food supply, the Department of Industry and Trade strengthens the effectiveness of State management of food safety from the production, processing, preservation, transportation, and trading stages for products under the management responsibility of the industry and other products, food safety for markets, supermarkets, trade centers and facilities in the system of storing and distributing food products under the management scope; strictly control multi-level sales methods, e-commerce for food products according to regulations. Implement food contamination hazard monitoring for food groups under the management of the sector; proactively prevent and handle unsafe food under the management responsibility of the sector.

The provincial police preside over and coordinate with relevant units to inspect and handle violations of food safety and hygiene and waste management in food production, processing and trading establishments. Direct local police forces to strengthen inspection, detection, destruction and strict handling of production and trading establishments that circulate chemicals and antibiotics banned from use in livestock breeding, slaughtering, aquaculture and acts of introducing impurities into aquatic products, using chemicals and industrial alcohol in wine production.

Article and photos: Viet Thang

Source: https://baonamdinh.vn/xa-hoi/202504/thang-hanh-dong-vi-an-toan-thuc-pham-nam-2025tu-ngay-154-den-1552025-bao-dam-an-ninh-an-toan-thuc-pham-trong-tinh-hinh-moi-1c87d24/