Strengthening food safety oversight

Since the administrative unit merger, food safety in Khanh Hoa Province has remained stable and shown encouraging progress. Yet, with stricter management requirements, particularly for street food vendors, small-scale establishments, and food businesses, effective coordination among departments, agencies, and local authorities is essential to further improve food safety management.

The provincial inter-agency food safety inspection team reviews food safety management in Nam Nha Trang Ward.

According to the Provincial Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on Food Safety, the province has carried out food safety assurance in a consistent and decisive manner across all levels and sectors. At present, Khanh Hoa oversees more than 54,000 food establishments, including nearly 50,000 under the management of communes and wards. Since adopting the two-tier local government model, localities have largely maintained stable state management of food safety, ensuring that inspection and supervision activities continue without disruption. The Provincial People’s Committee, together with relevant departments, has issued numerous directives and plans to strengthen food safety measures. Meanwhile, the Inter-sectoral Steering Committees at all levels have been promptly reorganized, helping to improve coordination and enhance the effectiveness of management.

In addition, communication efforts have been intensified to raise public awareness of food safety. Since the beginning of the year, localities have organized more than 230 food safety talks for over 2,100 participants, broadcast more than 770 radio programs, and displayed hundreds of banners and slogans in residential areas, markets, and food-related businesses.

To strengthen oversight, the province established 72 inter-agency inspection teams that checked 2,914 food establishments. Nearly 98% met safety standards, while 32 were fined a total of over VND 408 million. Inspectors collected nearly 50 food samples for testing, with more than 93% meeting requirements, and conducted rapid tests on over 930 samples, all negative. Thanks to the coordinated measures, no food poisoning cases have been recorded in the province so far this year.

At a recent meeting of the Provincial Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on Food Safety, Nguyen Long Bien, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee and Permanent Vice-Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, called on departments, agencies, and localities to strengthen coordination in ensuring food safety. He emphasized the need to expand public awareness campaigns, establish inter-sectoral inspection teams to monitor eateries, restaurants, industrial zones, schools, tourist sites, and street food vendors, and to strictly handle violations, particularly those involving expired or unidentifiable food products and the misuse of food additives.

He also directed the Department of Health to work closely with relevant agencies to resolve difficulties faced by localities in food safety management, especially regarding financial mechanisms and equipment. In addition, he urged greater focus on digital transformation and the application of information technology to improve the efficiency of food safety oversight.

Nguyen Dinh Thoan, Deputy Director of the Department of Health and Deputy Head of the Provincial Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on Food Safety, said the committee’s recent inspections in communes and wards showed that food safety management at merged facilities remains stable. Localities have actively coordinated communication, inspections, and supervision, gradually adapting to the new organizational model.

The provincial inter-agency food safety inspection team carries out an on-site review of the food preparation area at the canteen of Hai Long Seafood Co., Ltd., Suoi Dau Industrial Park.

Obstacles remaining

Despite many positive results, the province still faces challenges in food safety assurance, particularly due to limited personnel at the local level. Nguyen Dinh Anh Minh, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Tay Nha Trang Ward, reported that following the administrative boundary reorganization, the number of small-scale food businesses and street vendors in the area has risen sharply to more than 1,900 establishments, many of which are family-run.

Ninh Hai Commune currently manages more than 3,300 food establishments. Vice Chairperson Phu Thi Hong Duyen noted that food safety officials work only part-time and lack proper inspection equipment, especially for rapid testing. According to local authorities, beyond the shortage of staff, most of the production, business, and processing facilities at the commune level are small and operate irregularly, which makes supervision and inspections challenging. Funding for food safety is also limited, leaving essential tasks such as inspections, investigations, and handling food poisoning cases under-resourced.

Many localities have asked the province to increase staffing for food safety management at the commune level, expand professional training, and provide more funding. They also urged higher-level agencies to update regulations on administrative penalties, especially those concerning street food, mobile vendors, and small-scale businesses, to ensure a stricter and more consistent legal framework for local management.

C.D

Translated by N.T