Sub-departments of food safety and hygiene in provinces work ineffectively because they lack facilities
The Director of the National Institute for Food Control made the statement at the scientific conference on food testing 2022 yesterday in Hanoi. Talking to the press, Ms. Hao said that lots of locally-manufactured food products and imported products are available in the market, so in order to give accurate evidence, testing science must first develop and thereby control food safety.
Food safety testing is currently concentrated mainly in big cities, according to her. Sub-departments of food safety and hygiene in provinces work ineffectively because they lack facilities, equipment, and human resources for testing, failing to meet the present requirements and the development trend.
She added that currently, every year, the Institute and other related agencies take several thousand samples of various types, especially food for health protection, for testing. Thankfully, a number of food products containing banned substances were destroyed before they are sold to consumers.
Ms. Hao also said that recently, incidents of food safety have decreased except for fraud in some groups such as nutritional supplements. However, she noticed that health administrations should pay attention to food products advertised online whose quality is not under monitor.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen stated that poor quality products are still sold in the market countrywide, which poses many potential risks of causing food poisoning; therefore, they are harmful to human health. Responsible agencies are accordingly needed to take measures to control it.
