Regarding the case of 11 workers going to the emergency room after a meal at a company in Hung Long commune, in an exchange with Lao Dong Newspaper on April 16, Mr. Pham Chi Tam - Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation said that the City Labor Federation has grasped the incident. The workers have all been discharged from the hospital.
The Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation has directed the Hung Long Ward Trade Union to grasp the health situation of workers after being discharged from the hospital. At the same time, it is requested that the company inspect and maintain lunch meals to ensure food safety and quality for workers" - Mr. Tam said.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety is also investigating this case.
Ho Chi Minh City is a major economic center of the country, concentrating many industrial parks and export processing zones with a large number of workers and laborers.
Processing meals on a large scale at collective kitchens, industrial meal suppliers for workers, poses a risk of food insecurity, and even leads to collective poisoning if not strictly controlled.
Therefore, food safety assurance in these areas is always particularly focused on by the city and promoted inspection and supervision. The incident once again shows that the risk of food insecurity in collective kitchens is still present, requiring regular control to be maintained.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Khanh Phong Lan - Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety said that the work of ensuring safety at collective kitchens is emphasized. The operating principle of the unit is to build clean food, combat dirty food, including building a safe food chain, assessing risks to control quality.
For collective kitchens, the city focuses on prevention, and at the same time, regularly conducts actual inspections to guide the correct implementation of procedures, promptly detect and handle violations.
Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is implementing the Action Month for Food Safety in 2026, lasting until May 15. This is a seasonal transition, posing many risks of food insecurity due to hot weather and easily spoiled food.
As Lao Dong Newspaper reported, according to a report from Binh Chanh General Hospital, 11 workers came to the hospital on April 14. After emergency treatment, 6 patients were discharged, 5 cases were hospitalized. By the afternoon of April 15, all patients were discharged.
Recording medical history, workers had lunch at the company with a menu including rice and processed seafood. The patient was diagnosed with grade 1 anaphylaxis, with some cases being monitored for food poisoning.
