Dr. Chu Quoc Thinh - Acting Director of the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) - said that the development of the draft Law on Food Safety (amended) to "strengthen" the legal framework, meeting the requirements of strictly managing food quality is an inevitable requirement.
The draft Law focuses on 5 key policy groups, including: Tightening management of high-risk food production and business establishments; clearly decentralizing food safety management from the Central to local levels; controlling processed, pre-packaged and imported food according to the level of risk and compliance history of enterprises; strictly managing substances that are easily abused in food production and processing.
The draft also supplements and completes the quality control system throughout from production to circulation, improves testing capacity, clarifies the evaluation process and the mechanism for quickly recalling unsafe food. A noteworthy new point is assigning the Provincial People's Committee to organize a focal agency for food safety management, while maximizing administrative decentralization.
In particular, the draft reserves a separate chapter for post-inspection work to unify current regulations, strengthen the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in controlling inputs of the supply chain, especially for exported food items of high value.
After the outbreaks of dirty food in recent times, the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) also requested localities to strengthen food safety assurance such as strengthening inspection and examination and strictly handling violations at production and business establishments; promote propaganda so that establishments comply with regulations and people only buy and use food of clear origin; proactively develop medical plans to be ready to respond when poisoning occurs; and strictly implement the directions of the Government and the Ministry of Health on food safety.
Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen - Director of the Poison Control Center of Bach Mai Hospital - said that the period before, during and after Tet is the time when the risk of food poisoning increases, due to high food demand and difficulty in controlling food safety. Food poisoning mainly comes from two groups of causes. First, unsafe food such as goods of unknown origin, cheap, unlabeled, containing harmful chemicals, banned additives, or processed food, street food easily contaminated with bacteria. Second, it is due to consumers preserving, storing and using food incorrectly, eating uncontrollably during gatherings and parties.
People should choose food with clear origins, check expiration dates, limit street food, preserve it properly and eat it cooked and drink it boiled. At the same time, functional agencies and businesses need to strengthen control and strictly comply with food safety regulations to protect public health," Dr. Nguyen recommended.
