In 2010 alone, there were approximately 600 million cases of illness and 420,000 deaths due to 31 foodborne hazards worldwide. Infectious agents causing diarrhea accounted for the majority of cases (550 million) and deaths (230,000).
This is one of the notable information at the 2024 International Food Testing Conference organized by the Ministry of Health. The conference took place over 2 days (October 24-25) with the theme "Food safety control based on risk assessment".
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said that Vietnam is in the period of promoting industrialization and modernization of the country, the role of science and technology in general and food testing science in particular is one of the tasks that all levels/sectors pay special attention to.
“In recent years, food products have been abundant in variety and diverse in design on the market. Some food products pose a potential risk of causing food poisoning, affecting the health of consumers.
State management agencies have taken many active measures to propagate and raise awareness among food producers, traders and consumers, and proactively coordinate in developing regulations, legal policies and promote inspection, examination, detection and handling of establishments violating food safety laws.
Food testing that provides accurate results will promptly meet the requirements of state management agencies in food safety management,” Deputy Minister Do Xuan Tuyen emphasized.
Associate Professor, Dr. Le Thi Hong Hao - Director of the National Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene Control - said: In recent years, the food testing system in Vietnam has received investment from many funding sources, which has significantly changed the face of the food testing industry. However, the reality of recent food safety incidents shows that there are still dangers present in daily consumed food products.
Therefore, in addition to investing in the development of modern and specialized testing techniques, testing laboratories need to focus on promoting risk assessment activities to provide scientific evidence to support food safety management.
Last July, the Ministry of Health approved Decision No. 1936/QD-BYT on the establishment of the Food Safety Risk Assessment Center under the National Institute for Food Safety Control.
This is the first Risk Assessment Center under the Ministry of Health of Vietnam to carry out food safety risk assessment tasks to provide scientific evidence to management agencies, thereby proposing effective risk management and risk communication solutions, contributing to improving the national food safety system to help reduce food poisoning, food-borne diseases, and promote the development of domestic and foreign food trade.
