HCM City sets up groups to inspect food safety

HCM City sets up groups to inspect food safety (Illustrative image. Source VNA)

Head of the board Pham Khanh Phong Lan said the inspections will run from now to March 2018, focusing on examining highly-consumed food on Tet holiday such as confectionary, beverages and aquatic products.

The inspection teams will step up examinations at large-scale food supply facilities, markets, trade centres and food service businesses, she said, adding that any violations of food safety will be strictly handled.

The move aims to stop infringements of food safety and promote public health care and protection, Lan said.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute’s recent report, the number of unsafe food cases detected in 2017 was higher than in previous years.

The number of inspections carried out was higher than in 2016, but they all show that food safety had been improved considerably.

For example, in 2016, the percentage of meat samples containing antibiotics was  1.76 percent. In 2017, it dropped to 0.89 percent.

In addition, in 2017 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) conducted both regular and irregular inspections on 2,506 establishments and found 373 violated the law on food safety. Of these, 107 were fined.

In 2018, the MARD will work to eliminate the injection of chemicals into shrimps and sales of low quality fertiliser to farmers.-VNA