Food poisoning 'chains'

Urea fish sauce, food contaminated with growth hormones, fruits containing plant protection drugs . Toxic infection from sources and "chains " to people .

Food hygiene and safety are not guaranteed and not guaranteed from source! The opinions of many experts at the Conference on "5 years of food hygiene and safety program 2005 - 2010" organized by Ho Chi Minh City on April 16.

At the above conference, many experts expressed annoyance, there is no mechanism to ensure food hygiene and safety from the beginning to the end, in which the final stage is defined as consumers, ie users. Fresh foods or processed foods.

Poisoning "chain"

"Planting people is also human, catching fish is also human, processing is also human, consumption is also human. And the incident happened is also a human incident", Mr. Nguyen Nhu Giao emphasized .

Speaking at the conference, MSc Pham Kim Phuong, Director of Experimental Analysis Service Center (Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City) revealed "wild" things around the situation of food hygiene and safety. .

Ms. Phuong said, almost all the food brought by customers to the Center for testing have "problems" about food safety. The center has discovered that many samples of fresh food or processed foods contain toxic substances for human bodies such as urea, growth hormone, and plant protection drugs.

Mrs. Phuong, for example, has many fish sauce production establishments to bring fish sauce samples to the Center for protein testing. The center discovered, it is true that fish sauce has a very high protein content but it turns out . urea protein in fish sauce ingredients is too high, not protein from fish.

Urea content in fish sauce sometimes accounts for tens of percent in the test sample.

The problem is more complicated when fish sauce producers are asked, why do they add urea in fish sauce. Is it to increase protein? The producer replied, they only bought prepared fish sauce from Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, and Phan Thiet and brought it back to the City to process it, but they did not mix urea into fish sauce!

So where did urea come from? Further investigation by getting to the source of fish processing fish sauce, experts discovered, fish bought from offshore brought on large fishing vessels are not contaminated with urea because they have a cold tunnel. But the fish is bought from small fishermen, the fish is infected with urea. The reason is that fishermen catch fish from small fishing vessels and small boats do not have cold storage. Therefore, fishermen are forced to fish with urea to prevent fish from becoming rotten.

The main source of this fish, when brought back to the slide to make fish sauce, do not wash again. As a result, all fish urea will go into fish sauce.

Moreover, Ms. Phuong also revealed, currently, growth stimulant hormone is found in chicken and pork.

The average demand for animal products in Ho Chi Minh City is currently about 650-700 tons / day, equivalent to 460 cows, 8,000 pigs, 35,000 poultry and about 1,600 tons of types / day.

However, the livestock industry in the city only has the capacity to provide 15 - 20% of the demand for fresh animal products, the cultivation industry only provides 20-30% of the demand for green vegetables. Ms. Phuong raised the issue, needing to check again from the source. That is animal feed. In bran, in poultry feed, cattle contain growth hormones, then finish off chickens, pigs and eventually eaters are poisoned by "chain".

Ms. Phuong gave an example of American businesses importing shrimp from Vietnam. Every year, they send them to Vietnam for evaluation and control right from the farm to the drug supply stores and even the testing units such as the Experimental Analysis Service Center.

According to Ms. Phuong, even animal feed manufacturers are not well controlled, so the source is floating.

"The Department of Health must be the host, continue to investigate and evaluate the capacity of the testing units and plans to coordinate with each other. Viet Nam should have the same, to control the quality of products, "Ms. Phuong proposed.

Food incidents, human incidents

Mr. Nguyen Nhu Giao, Director of Dussmann Processing Catering Company, said that when talking about food safety and hygiene, we discuss a lot about this technique of other techniques, about these ordinances of other laws, but in the end this is a completely man-made product. Products start from people and end also people.

"Planting trees is also human, catching fish is also human, processing is also human, and consumption is also human, and the incident is also a human incident. a series of checks that the final stage is still the user, "said Nguyen Nhu Giao.

He also emphasized building a new generation of food consumers. People who eat and refuse do not have anything to escape but the test cannot be ruled out.

In 2005, there were 27 cases of food poisoning with 1,536 sufferers , including 11 cases of collective food poisoning over 30 people. ( In photo : A standard food trolley)

Because Mr. Giao himself is not confident in the food production process. He explained that a production process and workers are always in danger, there is an unexpected incident. This is not a machine to give us all the elements, it just gives out such a cake, and how many cakes a year is produced.

"It is a process from food input, inspection, processing, processing, table-top feeding, cleaning, and the last step is to deal with waste. No matter how good you are, you still have "One percent of any risk is suspended. We have set a compensation of $ 1 million for customers in force majeure cases," Giao said.

Assoc. Le Hoang Ninh, Director of the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health under the Ministry of Health, also agreed with the opinion "from food not only to the table but also to the eaters" of Dussmann's representative. Besides, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Ninh has discovered an action plan to ensure hygiene in 2006-2010 without a system to monitor cases while cases related to human life are the final consequence.

"We can only record diseases or groups of diseases, but also a street vendor before the school gate, how to manage or control when they go to the doctor. Meanwhile, most of the epidemics diseases in the world, discovered from medical centers or private practice doctors, "said Dr. Ninh

In 2006, the year of preventing food pollution

Ho Chi Minh City launched the food hygiene and safety month with the theme "Prevention of food pollution", from April 15 to May 15.

"Suppose there is street food, there are production facilities that do not guarantee food hygiene and safety, but society simultaneously boycott, will certainly have a much more positive impact," Vice President Nguyen Thanh Tai spoke. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tai, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee stressed that at present, one of the mass media agencies mentioned that eating and drinking does not guarantee food safety and hygiene, and facilities do not guarantee consumption. standard of production process On the other hand, consumers still use these products normally.

Therefore, the first main objective of the action plan to ensure food hygiene and safety in 2006-2010 is to raise awareness and practice of food hygiene and safety and sense of responsibility of producers and men. sales and consumption of food.

"So suppose to have street food, there are production facilities that do not guarantee food hygiene and safety, but society simultaneously boycott, will certainly have a much more positive impact," Deputy Chairman Nguyen Thanh Tai spoke.

Experience from bird flu, most people will not eat chicken when there are widespread recommendations. Since then, the announcement of non-standard products, consumers do not buy anymore, this is the motivation for enterprises to improve themselves and people become more aware.

However, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Ninh assessed that, right at the first goal of the plan, 100% of consumers who know and practice properly on food safety in 2010 are too big a target. The specific deployment to achieve this goal is not simple.

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