Vietnam Deputy PM Demands Drastic Tackling of Violations against Food Safety

Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has required tougher handling of violations against food safety during a meeting of the Central Inter-ministerial Steering Committee on food safety to review food administration in the first half (H1) of this year and set tasks for the H2. During the talks in Hanoi on June 12, the committee asked for regular sudden inspection into food production facilities as well as rigorous check on packaged foods, including imported ones. Agencies and localities need to step-by-step complete the procedure for food safety management based on risk levels, prepackaged and processed food products. In the H1, authorities will likely have detected over 38,100 facilities breaking regulations on food safety and handled nearly 6,800 units with total administrative fines of VND15.8 billion ($681,000). The country is estimated to have recorded 47 food poisoning cases with 849 patients, including 22 deaths during the period. (Bao Chinh Phu, Tin Tuc, Vietnam Plus)