Food Smells in Schools: Who's Responsible?

TP - The new school year has only been going on for a few months, but there have been consecutive cases of food poisoning, smelly food, and vegetables of unknown origin smuggled into schools, causing parents to worry about the quality of school meals. The question is, who is responsible for the school meals so that when an incident occurs, it is not enough to just change the food supplier.

Food smells bad, students get food poisoning.

Early on the morning of October 15th, parents of students at Cu Khe Primary School in Binh Minh commune, Hanoi, along with the school's food safety monitoring team, discovered numerous bags of peeled quail eggs and meat emitting a strong, unpleasant odor. It was visually apparent that thousands of peeled quail eggs were carelessly placed in tied-up plastic bags. During a subsequent meeting with the school and parents, a representative from Nhat Anh Trading and Service Co., Ltd. admitted that the food was transported to the school in a haphazard manner, failing to meet regulatory requirements. Specifically, the food was not vacuum-sealed and lacked insulated containers to ensure food quality.

Notably, during the food inspection, parents also discovered many kitchen utensils, including knives and peelers, that were rusty and visibly unsafe for food preparation.

Cu Khe Primary School subsequently held a meeting with parents and was forced to switch to a new food supplier. However, parents remain concerned about the quality of their children's daily meals.

Also in Hanoi, right from the beginning of the school year, many parents were upset when various types of vegetables of unknown origin were "magically" packaged and labeled as "clean vegetables" by Lien Anh Production, Trade and Service Co., Ltd., located in Son Dong commune, with QR codes for traceability, and then directly supplied to school cafeterias.

In addition, 40 students from Kim Thuy Ethnic Boarding Primary School in Kim Ngan commune, Quang Tri province, were hospitalized due to food poisoning after a school lunch. Test results from the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang showed that both the braised sea bass and a student's sample contained Bacillus cereus bacteria, which produce enterotoxins.

Information from the Principal

Regarding the incident involving the discovery of spoiled meat and foul-smelling eggs that nearly made their way into the school, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nam, Principal of Cu Khe Primary School, told Tien Phong newspaper that the discovery of the smelly food was not due to a surprise inspection by parents, but rather a scheduled inspection agreed upon between the school and parents at the beginning of the school year. “I instructed staff to turn back any food found to be unsafe. And this is the first time in the 2025-2026 school year that parents and medical staff have discovered unsafe food,” she said.

Questioning the management and supervisory role of the school's administration regarding the kitchen's rusty and substandard cooking utensils, Ms. Nam said: "The school had reminded the company to remove unused utensils, but at the time of the parents' inspection on October 15th, the company had not yet removed those utensils."

Ms. Nam stated that the school's management held an emergency meeting with parents and accepted full responsibility for the operation of the school kitchen. However, when asked about the school's supervisory role in the transportation of food to the school by the unqualified company (lacking insulated containers), she only reiterated: "All food that does not meet the requirements is returned. Regarding transportation, there are many reasons; it may be guaranteed today and not tomorrow, depending on the type of food."

Cu Khe Primary School has 1,518 students, and approximately 1,400 of them register for lunch at the school each day.

Supervision needs to be strengthened and responsibilities clearly defined.

Based on past food safety incidents, schools have consistently only responded by terminating contracts with food suppliers and switching to others. Meanwhile, food of unknown origin and unsafe quality entering schools and being prepared into meals has negatively impacted students' health. In fact, there have been numerous cases of mass food poisoning among students.

Parents believe that there is a need to strengthen supervision of the quality of school lunch programs and assign specific responsibility if any incidents occur.

Mr. Tran Van Nam, a parent with two children attending school and eating lunch at a school in Ha Dong ward, Hanoi, believes that stronger sanctions are needed to hold those responsible for school lunch kitchens accountable, and that the certification process for food safety compliant units should be tightened. He wants to ensure that food suppliers take their work seriously, and that meeting safety standards isn't just about having "certificates." "When issues arise, those involved must be held accountable. Schools should strengthen parental oversight. For example, scheduling groups of 3-5 parents to take turns inspecting food supplies, from the initial stages to processing and portioning, would ensure better safety," Mr. Nam said.

At the beginning of this school year, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training issued an urgent directive on school food safety, which included the following: Schools are required to absolutely not use food of unknown origin, expired, or spoiled. Each school must strictly implement a "three-step food inspection" process, including checking raw materials, checking during processing, and checking before use. Processing and storage equipment must be separate for raw and cooked food, with distinguishing labels/signs. There must be separate cabinets for storing and preserving cooked food and raw ingredients.

Ms. Vu Thu Ha, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, requested that if any food safety violations are detected, the provision of meals must be immediately suspended and replaced with another qualified provider. Furthermore, the responsibility of school principals will be reviewed if violations occur in the management of school kitchens.

Schools must assess food safety conditions when contracting with meal providers. Specifically, when signing contracts with food suppliers, the food safety conditions of the meals must be assessed.

Hanoi currently has nearly 3,000 schools at all levels, including nearly 2,200 public schools that provide semi-boarding meals for students in various forms: self-cooking, partnering with catering services, and providing ready-made meals.

Mr. Tran The Cuong, Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, said that the Department has directed schools to publicly disclose the menus for school lunches and the origin of the food. Furthermore, the head of the school organizing the school lunch program is fully responsible for food safety at their institution.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/thuc-pham-boc-mui-vao-truong-hoc-ai-chiu-trach-nhiem-post1790146.tpo