Hanoi has called for stronger supervision, inspection, management, and traceability of food supply in and around schools to minimize the risk of food poisoning.
Strict control of food origin
In recent months, Dan Phuong District, on the outskirts of Hanoi, has been working to ensure food safety in school canteens. According to Hoang Minh Duc, Head of the district's Health Sub-department, the entire district has 55 public schools, including 19 preschools, 20 primary schools, and 16 secondary schools.
"Nearly 35,000 local students are served in public school kitchens, which are furnished with facilities, tools, and equipment that guarantee food safety regulations. Each educational institution has obtained food safety certifications," he said.
Recently, the Dan Phuong authorities inspected food suppliers and schools in the district and found that the schools had procedures in place for receiving input food, as well as knowledge about food safety to ensure cooks are in good health. The district will conduct routine and sporadic inspections in the coming period to ensure that the source of input food is of consistently high quality.
An inspection team takes samples for rapid testing of pesticide residues on vegetables at Dan Phuong Kindergarten in Hanoi. Photo: Duy Khanh/The Hanoi Times |
Hanoi has remained focused on school food safety in recent years, setting a goal for all educational institutions to be inspected and supervised by regulations. In particular, it inspected 84.5% of the institutions in 2023.
However, at the school gate, the inspection and control of street food and street vendors still face many difficulties. Since the beginning of August 2024, Hanoi's school food safety inspection has focused not only on school canteens but also on food businesses in the vicinity of schools.
Dang Thanh Phong, Head of the Hanoi Food Safety Department, said that from August 2024 to the end of August 2025, the entire city will focus on ensuring food safety inside and outside schools. Hanoi will inspect educational institutions, school kitchens, and canteens under its jurisdiction.
"School kitchens are strictly controlled in terms of food origin and processing. In addition, food services around school gates must be monitored and inspected by local authorities," Phong said.
Besides, relevant agencies have regularly updated information on food service establishments, street vendors, and grocery stores that sell prepackaged, ready-to-eat, processed foods near school gates.
"The city has a special focus on makeshift stalls and street vendors around school gates. The origin of food in these shops is usually unclear, posing a health risk to students. Organizations and individuals who violate food safety regulations will be dealt with severely," Phong stressed.
He added that the Hanoi Department of Food Safety has asked local inspection teams to increase their numbers to carry out regular and sudden food safety inspections. In addition, post-inspection work will also be strengthened to timely detect unsafe food, establishments with violations, and those that have not fully complied with processing procedures.
For its part, the Hanoi Department of Education has urged schools and parents to remind students not to eat food of unknown origin or provided by strangers, and to increase monitoring, inspection, and management of food supplies in and around schools to minimize the risk of food poisoning.
School canteen in Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi. Photo: Tran Thao/The Hanoi Times |
It called on schools to strictly implement the work of handling and preventing food poisoning and to increase their responsibility in providing information on food safety.
In addition, the Hanoi authorities are urging food and processed food vendors at school gates to exercise responsibility and business ethics to help prevent food poisoning and food-borne diseases for the whole community.
In the coming period, strong intervention by the authorities is needed to ensure a safe environment for students. A total ban on street vendors at school gates may be one solution, but it requires consensus and close coordination between parents, students, and schools.
To help students fully understand the potential risks of consuming food of unknown origin, educational institutions should prioritize improving their teaching on food safety and food poisoning prevention.
According to Nguyen Hung Long, Deputy Director of the Sub-Department of Food Safety under the Ministry of Health, building a collective kitchen requires coordination between many specialized sectors, with a scenario of food safety incidents in mind to trace the origin of food.
"Schools should enforce the proper use of gloves and cleaning equipment in food processing. In particular, units should strengthen food input management, especially for high-risk foods such as chicken, eggs, fish, seafood, and others," Long noted.
"We have asked street vendors, food production, and trade facilities to strictly comply with regulations on the origin of raw materials, hygiene conditions, and equipment for food production and trade. Establishments must not use toxic colorants, additives, or chemicals that are not on the approved list to produce and process food," Long said.
He stressed that parents should ask their children not to eat food and snacks of unknown origin sold outside the school gates. "Parents should always be vigilant and help their children avoid this risk by teaching them to distinguish between clean and dirty food, and between trustworthy food stores and establishments that do not guarantee food safety," Long said, adding that parents should choose food with a clear origin to prepare for their children to eat at home and as snacks for school breaks.
Many shop owners cannot prove the origin of the candies sold everywhere at school gates. Most children follow their friends who are attracted by the eye-catching food with sour and spicy taste, partly because the food is extremely cheap. Therefore, despite being warned by their families and schools, they still eat and drink without paying attention to the unpredictable consequences.
To protect children from the risk of food poisoning at the school gate, Dr. Nguyen Trong An, former Deputy Director of the Department of Child Protection and Care under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, recommended that the most important thing is education from the family, children must have habit of eating at home and are asked not to eat snacks.
“Parents should always be vigilant, support knowledge, and guide their children to avoid this risk, distinguish between dirty food and clean food, reputable food shops or places which do not ensure food safety. The schools have also recommended that parents should not use street foods that do not have certificates or commitments on food safety,” An said.
