Prevent mass food poisoning

In recent times, a series of food poisoning cases have occurred in several localities across the country, causing public concern and seriously affecting the health of the community. Food safety is not a new issue, but it is always a painful and complicated story.

Food poisoning and food contamination are increasing in number and severity, with many deaths due to unsafe food. Recently, on May 25, a mass poisoning incident occurred at a company in Thai Binh after workers had lunch at the unit, causing 46 workers to be poisoned, of which 17 cases had to be treated at local hospitals. Another incident occurred on May 9 when nearly 300 students at a kindergarten in Do Luong (Nghe An) had lunch at school. By the evening of the same day, 76 children showed symptoms of stomachache and vomiting, of which 55 children were taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.

More serious is a series of cases of Botulinum poisoning in Ho Chi Minh City believed to be caused by eating street-sold pork rolls and long-aged fish sauce, including one death and two victims in serious condition, completely paralyzed and requiring ventilators.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, in just the first 4 months of 2023, there were 25 food poisoning incidents nationwide with a total of 344 people poisoned, including 8 deaths.

Doctors from Cho Ray Hospital and Children's Hospital 2 examine a child with Botulinum poisoning. Photo: VNA

A series of causes have been pointed out by health experts when referring to the current situation of food safety and hygiene. One of the main causes is due to the unsanitary production, processing and preservation of food. Many restaurants, eateries, and food businesses do not comply with food safety and hygiene regulations, and do not maintain cleanliness and safety during the production and preservation of food. In addition, there are a number of other causes such as improper use of pesticides, banned preservatives, unsanitary water sources, etc.

Even more worrying is the fact that some production and business establishments, despite knowing that their products are not of guaranteed quality, have, for the sake of profit, disregarded everything to find ways to bring “dirty food” to consumers. All of the above factors contribute to food safety and hygiene, causing poisoning incidents, and harming the health of consumers.

In fact, the authorities have discovered many cases involving production and business establishments violating food safety and hygiene standards, and have imposed heavy fines according to the law, even criminally prosecuting some cases with serious consequences. However, this problem has never been thoroughly and completely resolved.

In that context, it is extremely necessary to strengthen synchronous, comprehensive and drastic solutions, especially propaganda, dissemination and education on food safety and hygiene; coordination between inter-sectoral agencies in management and direction of food safety and hygiene in localities. Along with that, regular inspection, supervision and strict handling of violations of food safety and hygiene regulations also play a key role.

On the other hand, it is necessary to build a system of food safety and hygiene standards that is feasible and highly effective in preventing and handling food safety violations in accordance with Vietnam's conditions. However, in the work of building standards, it is still necessary to take international standards as a basis to gradually adjust domestic regulations, especially regulations related to exported food and import control.

However, perhaps the truly decisive factor in minimizing food safety violations leading to food poisoning is the awareness of each individual in the community. Production and business establishments need to improve business ethics, strictly comply with legal regulations in food business and processing; fully register for business licenses and certificates of food safety and hygiene. Consumers need to be highly aware and equip themselves with knowledge about food safety and hygiene, thereby proactively choosing products with clear origins, ensuring food safety and hygiene.

In fact, food safety is not only a problem in Vietnam but also in any country in the world that has to deal with this situation, but clearly each place will have different approaches. In the US, one of the top priorities to deal with this issue is transparency in the origin of food, clearly shown in strict regulations on food labeling. Establish a database to quickly trace the origin of food, food ingredients and identify which stage in the food supply chain has problems, promptly recall defective products from distribution channels on the market.

Another difference is that propaganda and education on food safety and hygiene are highly focused. According to US food safety laws, when a person wants to open a restaurant or run a mobile food truck business, he or she must take a class to learn about food safety regulations, or people who suffer damage due to unsafe food have the right to file a civil lawsuit in court to request compensation for damages.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) also has a very strict and complete system of food safety standards and regulations due to the high demand of consumers for clean and safe products. In particular, this region pays great attention to identifying and controlling hazards in the manufacturing, processing, production, preparation and use of food, establishing principles to ensure a safe and clean production environment.

It can be affirmed that the issue of food hygiene and safety plays a very important role in the strategy of protecting human health, both urgent and long-term, requiring the cooperation of the whole society. Only when every citizen, food producer and trader is highly aware of this issue and contributes their best to solving it, can we ensure public health, contribute to the development of the economy, culture, society, and demonstrate the civilized lifestyle of a country.

According to Tin Tuc newspaper