Street food is cheap, convenient... but full of risks
On November 27 and 28, more than 300 Vung Tau residents suffered food poisoning, suspected to be due to eating banh mi at a shop called "Co Ba Ben Dinh", on Nguyen An Ninh Street, Ward 7, Vung Tau City. Notably, one person died after eating banh mi from this establishment. All of them ate banh mi or sticky rice on the evening of November 26 or the morning of November 27 purchased at the above shop.
According to the report of the Department of Health of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, through investigation from patients, the banh mi and sticky rice they bought at the above shop contained boiled meat, pork floss, butter, pate, ham, sauce, pickles, onions, and cilantro.
The Department of Food Safety and Hygiene of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province announced the test results showing that food samples including boiled pork, pork pate, pork sausage, pork sauce and raw vegetables were all contaminated with salmonella bacteria, not meeting the national technical standards on microbial contamination in food as prescribed by the Ministry of Health.
Through inspection, authorities also discovered that the banh mi shop could not present the necessary documents and papers proving the origin of the input food.
This is not the first time street food has caused mass poisoning, even death.
In 2024, Nha Trang city experienced several food poisoning incidents related to street food, including some resulting in death. The poisoning incident at Vinh Truong Primary School and Tran Hung Dao Secondary School in April 2024 resulted in 37 students being hospitalized with suspected food poisoning symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, and headaches. Unfortunately, a 5th grade female student died after eating sushi and drinking soft drinks purchased from a stall in front of the school gate.
Or the banh mi poisoning case in Dong Nai in May 2024 at Bang banh mi shop, Tran Quang Dieu street, Xuan Binh ward, Long Khanh city, Dong Nai province, causing more than 500 people to be hospitalized.
Stepping out onto the street, anyone can see at many traditional markets, school gates, sidewalks, hospital gates... it is not difficult to find and buy pre-processed foods, displayed attractively from street vendors or sidewalk stalls such as banh mi, sushi rolls, grilled pork vermicelli, chicken feet, chicken wings...
The customers of these shops are very diverse, from office workers, students to even patients undergoing treatment.
Street food is difficult to control.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phong - former Director of the Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health) - emphasized the importance of street food management in ensuring food safety and public health.
He said street food is an indispensable part of Vietnamese culinary culture, but also poses many potential food safety risks if not strictly managed.
To improve management efficiency, the Food Safety Department has deployed an online food safety reporting system from the ward/commune level to the district/county, province/city level and synthesized at the central level. This system helps update information in real time, supporting authorities to monitor and promptly respond to food safety incidents.
The Department has also built a Food Safety Portal for the public, providing information about businesses, products and food safety warnings, helping people easily look up and choose safe food.
Mr. Phong also noted that street food management requires close coordination between authorities and the awareness of businesses and consumers. The Food Safety Department needs to strengthen inspection, examination and propaganda to raise public awareness of food safety.
