Hanoi to tighten festival food inspections

Hanoi’s Department of Health will deploy mobile food testing labs to deter unsafe food sold at restaurants and street vendors where spring festivals take place, Nguyen Khac Hien, director of the department, has said.

  • HCM City takes drastic measures to ensure food safety
  • EU helps Vietnam put new focus on food safety
  • Quick response force to tackle food safety problems in Hanoi

Interdisciplinary inspection teams, in cooperation with local authorities, will take samples of food at food businesses operating at festivals for tests this month, according to Hien.

Those who were found to violate food safety and hygiene regulations will face fines and be forced to stop business. The Huong (Perfume) Pagoda Festival in My Duc district, which welcomes tens of thousands of tourists each day during the festival time, will be the first to be inspected this month, the official added.  

The mobile testing labs, which could test a raw food sample for different kinds of chemicals or bacteria within 30 minutes or two hours at the longest, will help deterring violated businesses at the soonest time, he said on February 7.

The labs will ease difficulties of inspection work, he added. As usual, there are many food vendors at festivals while the time of testing food at local labs took much time. When the authorised agencies receive food test results, a large amount of food had been sold.  

Previously, the department required all food businesses to sign commitment to follow the regulations on food hygiene and safety.

Last weekend, an interdisciplinary inspection team from the department conducted an inspection on 23 food businesses at Va Temple Festival in Son Tay township. All 10 samples of noodles and five samples of chili sauce met the food hygiene and safety’s requirements. However, only 22 out of 55 bowls were found to meet the hygiene.

The team gave warnings to these businesses. The festival welcomed nearly 1,000 tourists each day.

Another inspection team also inspected two businesses at Soc Temple Festival in Soc Son district and two other businesses in Tay Ho Temple in Tay Ho district. Results showed that the preservation work of raw materials did not meet safety criteria.

Last month, the Ministry of Health’s Food Hygiene and Safety Department has set up six teams and more than 5,100 groups to inspect food businesses in 42 cities and provinces. More than 2,300 businesses were found to violate the regulations, paying the fines of nearly VND8.2 billion (US$361,940) in total.

As many as 22 businesses were forced to stop their operation and 414 kinds of food were seized and culled.

VNA

Other News

Communication drive promoted for 500-day campaign to locate, identify fallen soldiers' remains

Communication drive promoted for 500-day campaign to locate, identify fallen soldiers' remains

Under the plan, all central and local media outlets are required to launch columns on the campaign, maintain regular coverage, and produce at least five to seven in-depth reports each month in key search areas. Media agencies will also be encouraged to gather and verify valuable information and develop high-quality products in both Vietnamese and foreign languages, including feature articles, documentaries, reports and short videos.

First Vietnamese pagoda in Tokyo inaugurated

First Vietnamese pagoda in Tokyo inaugurated

Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu expressed confidence that the establishment will serve as a strong spiritual anchor for Vietnamese people living in Japan while contributing to friendship and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

National drive kicks off to protect, support children online

National drive kicks off to protect, support children online

Cyberspace now runs through children’s learning, entertainment, and daily lives, but warned it is laced with dangerous content, online insults, threats, and seemingly harmless clicks that can trigger fraud, data breaches, and risks children who are not yet equipped to handle.

Vietnam, RoK scholars discuss diplomatic perspectives amid modern East Asia

Vietnam, RoK scholars discuss diplomatic perspectives amid modern East Asia

A scholar has stressed the need for Vietnam to make use of cooperation opportunities arising from the RoK’s foreign policy, particularly in semiconductor technology, artificial intelligence (AI), supply chains, digital transformation, and green energy, as well as chances in multilateral diplomacy.

'Barefoot inventor' and global ambitions

'Barefoot inventor' and global ambitions

Pham Van Hat is best known as the creator of the made-in-Vietnam “Seed Sowing Robot,” now exported to 15 countries, alongside dozens of practical inventions that have eased labour for thousands of farmers.

Safeguarding fairness for creators, future of Vietnam's culture

Safeguarding fairness for creators, future of Vietnam's culture

Films, music, television programmes, e-books, video games, journalistic works, images and creative data can now be copied, edited and redistributed within minutes. While copyright violations were once linked mainly to pirated discs or counterfeit books, infringements have shifted online with faster speed, wider scale and greater anonymity.

Flower tribute ceremony honours President Ho Chi Minh in Russia

Flower tribute ceremony honours President Ho Chi Minh in Russia

Consul General Nguyen Viet Kien stressed President Ho Chi Minh’s reputation and career transcended Vietnam’s borders to inspire liberation movements worldwide, and that his ideas on the right to self-determination, peace, and friendship among nations remain deeply relevant today.

Education ministry targets five digital technology incubators at universities

Education ministry targets five digital technology incubators at universities

A key target under the new plan is the establishment of five digital technology incubators, or Deeptech Hubs, at universities and research institutes with strong potential. The education ministry also plans to launch a training programme for 1,000 outstanding technology entrepreneurs and develop criteria for selecting and supporting startup ecosystems within educational institutions.

Vietnam steps up implementation of ethnic affairs strategy through 2030

Vietnam steps up implementation of ethnic affairs strategy through 2030

To accelerate the implementation of the the Ethnic Affairs Strategy by 2030, with a vision toward 2045, the Prime Minister requested ministries, agencies and local authorities to continue thoroughly carrying out the Party and State’s policies on ethnic affairs, enhancing the effectiveness of State management and strengthening oversight of policy implementation.

Security preparations reviewed for APEC 2027 in Phu Quoc

Security preparations reviewed for APEC 2027 in Phu Quoc

The team examined the APEC 2027 Convention Centre, where main conference activities are scheduled; Sun Serenia Hospital, designated to provide healthcare and emergency medical services for delegates; provincial road DT.975, which connects Phu Quoc International Airport to the convention centre; and the area surrounding Phu Quoc International Airport.