HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’sFood Safety Management Board (FSMB) will step up inspections to ensure foodsafety, said head of FSMB Pham Khanh Phong Lan.

At a recent conference on food manufacturers’responsibilities, Lan  said food safetyis important for socio-economic development of the city, which has seen anenhancement of health and origin inspections in the past few years and increasein the number of modern abattoirs and other facilities.

There would be more health and origininspections, especially of smaller businesses and craft villages, which stilluse traditional manual methods, and authorities would throw the book atviolations like poor health standards and use of unapproved chemicals andingredients with unclear origins, she promised.

Inspectors would focus on markets and producersin less developed areas, especially pork producers, and strictly enforce ruleson disposing of pigs injected with certain chemicals, Lan said.

[HCM City to ensure food safety at trad♑iti♋onal markets]

All district administrations would dispatch moreinspection teams to deal with unregistered street vendors, who she said posethe risk of food poisoning.

“We also need to pay more attention to largecafeterias, meals provided to workers at industrial parks, and areas with ahigh risk of mass food poisoning such as schools and businesses.”

Trieu Le Khanh, deputy chairwoman of the city’sFatherland Front, urged the media and businesses to raise awareness of foodsafety at businesses and craft villages and remind them of their responsibilityto customers rather than pursue profit.

The public should be educated on tips to avoidfood poisoning – such as buying food only from safe sources – and provided withcertain cooking tips, Khanh said.-VNA