Economics
 | 09-12-2024 | 12:53:29

Regulations on food safety in fields managed by industry and trade sector

Currently, provincial Department of Industry and Trade (DoIT) oversees food business operations, with 9 supermarkets, 293 mini supermarkets and convenience stores. These establishments offer a wide range of food products with clear origins and stable prices.

To meet the shopping needs of the local people, provincial DoIT has created favorable conditions for private economic sectors to make investment, operate and develop supermarkets, mini-supermarket chains and convenience stores, which is becoming more popular, with notable brands, namely Co.opmart, Go!, Aeon, Lotte, Winmart, Bach Hoa Xanh, Co.op Food, GS25, Family Mart, WinMart+, Circle K and others. Most of these stores are developed across the province.

Further implementing the Central Party Secretariat’s Directive No.17-CT/TW dated October 21, 2022 on enhancing food security and safety in the new situation, since early 2024, Binh Duong province has inspected over 8,300 food production and business establishments, discovering more than 900 cases with violations.

The province has consistently paid close attention to directing, managing, inspecting and supervising food safety. Through regular inspection tours, many violations related to food hygiene and safety were discovered and addressed over the past time.

Common violations included the sale of food with unclear origins, failing to meet hygiene standards; the use of banned additives and violations related to food storage conditions. Wrong establishments were fined, required to make corrections, or even had their operations suspended if they posed a high risk to public health.

An inspection delegation on food safety at Go! Tan Uyen supermarket

In 2024, provincial DoIT established 3 regular and unexpected inspection delegations for 8 enterprises. They made inspection tours for 2 enterprises during the 2024 Tet (Lunar New Year) festival, carried out post-market food safety inspection tours for 5 enterprises and an unscheduled inspection tour for 1 enterprise at the request of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Additionally, provincial DoIT established 2 inspection delegations on food safety management in Thu Dau Mot city and Di An city. In terms of inter-sectoral inspections, provincial DoIT participated in 4 joint inspection delegations for 28 enterprises. They carried out inspection tours for 14 enterprises during the Food Safety Month, inspection tours for 11 enterprises during the Mid-Autumn Festival, including 1 business found in violation and unscheduled inspection tours for 3 enterprises. Provincial DoIT also participated in a supervisory delegation for the "Action Month for Food Safety" in Thuan An and Di An cities.

As a result, Thuan An’s Food Safety Steering Committee imposed fines on all 9 inspected establishments. Di An city’s Food Safety Steering Committee fined 2 out of the 3 inspected enterprises.

Through regular inspection tours by inter-sectoral and specialized inspection delegations at food production and business establishments across the province, violations are promptly identified and solved strictly. This helps deter non-compliance and raises awareness of adhering to legal regulations among enterprises while also ensuring food safety and hygiene for consumers.

Food safety inspection at Bach Hoa Xanh Thu Dau Mot mini-supermarket

The factors that cause food safety violations include:
The first factor is the lack of business owners’ awareness regarding the importance of food safety, leading to the use of ingredients with unclear origins, substandard quality or failure to follow proper hygiene procedures. This increases the risk of food safety violations in business operations.
The second factor is the weather and conditions for temperature-controlled food storage. Binh Duong has a hot and humid climate, which can affect fresh food products and ready-to-eat ones. Without proper storage equipment to maintain correct temperature and standards, there is an increased risk of food contamination.
The third factor is that some for-profit establishments deliberately cut down on safe steps such as using preservatives in excess of permitted levels, not testing input materials or not investing in proper food storage equipment.
Consumers also play a crucial role in their shopping habits. If consumers are well-informed and able to distinguish between safe and potentially harmful food, they will avoid purchasing cheap products that do not meet quality standards…

To improve State management of food safety, provincial DoIT has issued "Food Safety Management Handbook for the Industry and Trade Sector" which systematizes legal regulations on food safety that need to be observed by State agencies and establishments under their jurisdiction during food production and business operations.

Reported by Thanh Tam – Division of Industrial Management-Translated by Kim Tin

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