Successive cases of suspected food poisoning occurring at schools recently are raising concerns about the quality of semi-boarding meals in Ho Chi Minh City.
Recently, after the incident of dozens of students from Dang Thuy Tram Elementary School (Tan Thuan ward) being hospitalized due to suspected food poisoning, schools using meals from the same supplier have simultaneously announced the temporary suspension of semi-boarding meals for review and inspection.
Previously, at the beginning of April, Binh Quoi Tay Primary School (Binh Quoi ward) also experienced a suspected food poisoning incident. At the end of January 2026, thousands of students in many primary and secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City also had to temporarily stop eating semi-boarding after reflections related to the food quality of a food supply company. After the incidents, many schools have changed suppliers to ensure safety for students.
Faced with the above situation, Ho Chi Minh City is promoting the implementation of the "Responsible Green Stick" program in the field of school meals.
Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, said that the program in the past time has contributed to establishing new standards of responsibility between parties in the food supply chain.
According to Mr. Phuong, when applied to the school environment, the requirement to control food becomes even more urgent. The city aims to build a standard model that can be replicated, in which the responsibilities of each subject in the supply chain must be clearly defined.
According to the plan, the model will be piloted in May with the full participation of all parties in the supply chain. After the trial operation phase, the program is expected to expand to about 100 schools before September this year.
Assessing the program, Mr. Trinh Ba Cuong - General Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Food and Foodstuff Association, said that the "green tick" is a positive signal in the context that consumers are increasingly concerned about cases related to poor quality food, counterfeit goods, and goods of unknown origin.
According to Mr. Cuong, if there is a mechanism to certify clean, safe and transparent products of origin, businesses and members will actively participate to enhance prestige, build and promote brands.
Meanwhile, many schools in Ho Chi Minh City also agree with the application of "Responsibility Green Tiles" thanks to the expected results. However, schools believe that it is necessary to clarify the source of funding for implementation, and at the same time collect opinions and create consensus from parents.
Opinions suggest that the program needs to harmonize the goals of ensuring food safety and nutritional quality for students with the affordability of parents and the school budget.
Mr. Dao Ha Trung - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Association, said that food poisoning incidents are not only statistical figures but also directly affect the health, even the lives of users, especially children.
According to Mr. Trung, many studies show that poisoning agents often come from bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, Botulinum... These agents can appear at many stages in the supply chain, especially for meat products and processed foods.
To improve control efficiency, Mr. Trung proposed 5 key groups of solutions including input quality control, processing monitoring, storage conditions control, transparency of data across the chain and building a product recall mechanism when incidents occur.
Green responsibility" requires kitchens to fully comply with food safety regulations and strict practices in the entire processing process. The entire process from importing raw materials, preliminary processing to finished products must be transparent in real time to strictly control input and output factors, limiting errors in quantity as well as the risk of food insecurity.
Not only management agencies, the supervisory role of schools is also expanded. According to the proposal, schools will directly participate in the monitoring process through camera systems, input data and management software. Thanks to that, schools can check the origin of raw materials, processing processes and output instead of just relying on paper records as before.
