Students of Hanoi University of Science and Technology have to eat leftover rice with foreign objects.

On the evening of October 7, a news report by VTV1, Vietnam Television, attracted attention when several students at Hanoi University of Science and Technology said they had to eat leftover rice and soup with many unusual foreign objects during their national defense and security education class.

Specifically, students in the food service support group said they were assigned to collect leftover rice from each table and mix it well. Then, the kitchen staff poured the leftover rice into a common rice container and continued to distribute it to the groups of students who came to eat later.

In addition to rice, half-eaten bowls of soup are also collected, poured back into the pot, and then divided into new meals. Students have also repeatedly reported finding foreign objects in their food, or having to eat rotten eggs.

Nam, a business administration student, was not surprised to see the program. He said he attended a national defense and security education course at the end of August and was disappointed with the school meals.

According to the regulations, Nam has 10 days of accommodation, study and concentrated training. Every day, the male student and his friends are given three meals and pay 75,000 VND.

Breakfast costs 15,000 VND, usually consisting of banh te, banh bao or bread, with a box of soy milk. For lunch and dinner, students eat meals prepared by the kitchen, each meal costs 30,000 VND.

"Breakfast is no problem for me. But lunch and dinner are really little and unhygienic," Nam said.

Nam described a main meal consisting of a little rice, a small sausage, and five braised meatballs. Another meal consisted of a little pumpkin soup, two pieces of beans, and a little meat. Compared to the 20,000-25,000 VND meals bought at restaurants near the school, Nam found it too little, while he practiced hard in the sun every day.

"Vegetables often have worms, while the rice is dry and the soup is cold," Nam shared, saying that he represented his classmates in reporting this to the teacher. However, the teacher was not in charge of the kitchen so he just took note.

Hanoi University of Science and Technology said on the evening of October 7 that it had conducted a comprehensive inspection of the matter immediately after learning of the news. The school admitted that "some of the reported information is true," but did not provide details.

According to the school, the catering units said they had not received direct feedback from students about food hygiene, no cases of food poisoning had been recorded, and new staff did not understand the regulations. However, the school assessed that these reasons were not convincing enough.

The university has terminated the contract with the catering unit and transferred it to another unit, and requested that the relevant parties clarify and thoroughly handle the matter. The school assigned the student affairs department to promptly resolve students’ questions and requests regarding meals; and to monitor the quantity and quality of food on a daily basis.

"This is an unfortunate incident. Hanoi University of Science and Technology would like to apologize and hope to receive sympathy and sharing from parents and students," the school said in a statement.

About 7,000-8,000 new students at Hanoi University of Science and Technology each year are divided into several groups, taking turns studying national defense and security education in their first year. The school once said that the cafeteria for this group is arranged separately with 750 seats, ensuring hygiene and food safety so that students can eat, live and study like soldiers.