Four more schools in Thu Duc City temporarily stop providing meals for boarding students.

On October 28, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, Deputy Head of the Departmentof Education and Training (GD&DT) of Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, said that Truong Thanh Primary School, Truong Thanh Secondary School, Phuoc Thanh Primary School, and Long Thanh My Primary School will temporarily stop providing meals for boarding students from October 30.

Previously, these 4 schools used industrial meals for boarding students from Phuong Anh Vinh Long Company (Long Thanh My Ward, Thu Duc City). This is the same food supplier for Phu Huu Primary School, where parents complained about unsafe food.

The Department of Education and Training of Thu Duc City requires schools to fully inform parents about the true nature of the incident that just happened at Phu Huu Primary School. All schools are required to consult parents about providing meals for boarding students.

''Parents requested to stop providing meals from this unit and the schools have stopped, however, finding a new unit to provide meals for boarding students is also very difficult. Parents are requested to coordinate with the school to find a new partner to provide meals for boarding students' ', Ms. Hien emphasized.

On the evening of October 26, social networks were abuzz with several clips "accusing" the kitchen of Phu Huu Primary School of having spoiled, unusable food; many spices were stored in unlabeled plastic cans, of unknown origin, supplier, and expiration date.

Phu Huu Primary School stopped providing boarding meals from Phuong Anh Vinh Long Company from October 26.

Regarding the incident, on the afternoon of October 27, Mr. Phan Thanh Phai - Principal of Phu Huu Primary School said: "The school does not have a kitchen, so this clip was not filmed at the school."

Mr. Phai added that on October 25, the parents' representative committee and school leaders inspected and worked with the company providing meals for boarding students. During the inspection, the parents' representative saw unlabeled soy sauce bottles and chicken feet that did not meet food safety standards.

"The school's menu since the beginning of the school year has not had any dishes related to chicken feet, so this cannot be the food cooked for students," Mr. Phai emphasized.

The chicken feet were reported by parents as being unusable. (Photo cut from clip)

According to the principal, due to the parents' strong reaction, on October 26, the school terminated the contract with Phuong Anh Vinh Long Company and stopped providing meals for nearly 700 students until a new partner was found.

Responding to VTC News, Mr. Nguyen Thai Vinh Nguyen, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Thu Duc City, said that the department has received feedback from parents and is in the process of handling it.

Mr. Nguyen added that the People's Committee of Thu Duc City has issued an official dispatch on the plan to inspect food safety for collective kitchens, canteens, and food services at schools throughout the 2023-2024 school year.

The subjects of inspection are collective kitchens, canteens, food services in schools, establishments providing meals for schools; establishments providing raw materials, additives, packaging... used to process food in collective kitchens in the area.

"The Department of Education and Training is directing continued review and inspection. The People's Committee of Thu Duc City has a plan to inspect food safety at schools. If the quality is not up to standard, the units must immediately stop signing contracts," Mr. Nguyen emphasized.

Lam Ngoc

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