WHO Vouchsafes Assistance to Vietnam in Ensuring Food Safety

The World Health Organization (WHO) is committed to standing side by side with the Vietnamese government in ensuring food safety, Jeffery Kobza, acting chief representative of the WHO in Vietnam, has said. The WHO official made the commitment at a ceremony jointly held by the health organization and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health in Hanoi on April 6 to mark the World Health Day 2015 (April 7), whose topic was food safety, according to newswire Vietnamplus. A number of food safety incidents in recent years have shown their multinational effects, which is required to be addressed by governmental efforts and to be given more attention by consumers globally, Kobza said. Food safety has emerged as a prominent topic and was chosen by the WHO as the theme of this year’s World Health Day, he said. This theme would help enhance public awareness of the importance of food safety and lead governments to join hands in addressing issues related to national and international food safety, he said. "Food safety assurance is the responsibility of all consumers and producers along the food chain from farm to plate," Kobza said. Food producers, manufacturers, and traders in Vietnam need to take responsibility for the safety of food they produce and trade while consumers must take preventive measures and follow good food safety practices." “Food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals is responsible for more than 200 diseases, ranging from diarrhea to cancers,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in his message on the World Health Day 2015. “Potential new threats to food safety are emerging all the time. Unsafe food is a largely under-reported and often overlooked global problem. With the food supply chain stretching around the world, the need to strengthen food safety systems within and among countries is becoming more critical,” the message said. The UN leader urged governments to communicate the importance of food safety to their citizens. He also called on all people involved in the production, distribution, and preparation of food to contribute to making food safe. On the World Health Day 2015, the WHO and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health issued five messages calling for making food safer, including keeping hands and surfaces for food preparation clean; separating raw and cooked food; cooking food thoroughly, especially meat, poultry and eggs; keeping food at safe temperatures; and using clean water and safe raw materials in making food. In March 2013, then-Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan signed a decision to approve the building of a system that will release early warnings and risk analysis about food safety in Vietnam. This system requires three years to be set up before it can be put into operation in 2016 at three levels: national, ministerial or centrally-run provincial/municipal, and grassroots. A center will be established at the national level to collect and analyze information from lower levels. Based on analysis of the information, centers at each level will release early warnings about food safety and related risks when necessary. Under the project, 100% of emergency food safety cases will be brought under control quickly and effectively, and more than 70% of information collected will be handled rapidly. (Tuoi Tre – Youth Apr 9)