On April 18, the Hanoi City Food Safety Interdisciplinary Inspection Team No. 1 inspected food safety assurance in Ba Dinh District, within the framework of the "month of Action for Food Safety" in 2025.
According to the report of the Steering Committee for Food Safety of Ba Dinh District, there are currently 3,631 food production and trading establishments in the area. Responding to the Month of Action for Food Safety, the district has established 18 inspection teams, including 5 district-level teams and 13 ward-level teams. From April 15, inspection work has been strengthened, focusing on food safety hotspots.
The inspections were focused on, combined with propaganda and strict handling of violations. Up to now, the district has inspected 151 establishments and administratively fined 6 establishments with a total amount of 30 million VND. However, food safety management still faces many difficulties due to the nature of the area with many small, scattered facilities, and frequent fluctuations.
At the inspection, the delegation inspected the Trade and Service Investment Company Limited (No. 7 Vinh Phuc Street, Ba Dinh District) - the unit that provides meals for 11 schools in Hanoi with nearly 6,000 meals/day. This facility currently has a temporary kitchen at the above address to provide 300 meals/day for Van Phuc Primary School during the school's repair period.
Through the inspection, the team discovered many violations of food safety and hygiene conditions. In particular, the kitchen area (including the basement and 1st and 2nd floors) is not hygienic and has insects appearing. Toices are arranged right in the processing area; walls and foundations of the processing area are degraded, processing tools do not have food storage cabinets; some areas lack lighting due to broken light bulbs and cannot be replaced.
Worryingly, the kitchen is not designed according to the one-way principle, there is no separate subdivision for raw and cooked foods, which can easily cause cross-contamination. The three-step food inspection book was not recorded in accordance with regulations. In addition, the facility also arranged up to 9 gas cylinders near the kitchen area, which poses a high risk of fire and explosion; the contract to provide ready-made meals to Van Phuc Primary School has not been presented.
Faced with the above problems, Mr. Dang Thanh Phong - Head of the Hanoi Food Safety and Hygiene Department - requested the facility to immediately overcome them. In particular, it is necessary to supplement all legal documents and rearrange the kitchen area according to the one-sided principle. The Steering Committee for Food Safety of Ba Dinh District will handle violations and conduct a post-inspection to assess the remediation.
Mr. Dang Thanh Phong said that this year's Food Safety Action Month has the theme: "Ensuring food safety, focusing on collective kitchens, food services and street food". The city pays special attention to ensuring food safety in school kitchens and industrial parks.
Ba Dinh District needs to strengthen inspection of establishments providing ready-made meals for schools, especially the traceability of food ingredients Mr. Phong emphasized.
