Editor’s Note
This article reports on a formal request by Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Education and Training for comprehensive oversight of the school meal supply chain by the city’s Food Safety Department. It highlights ongoing concerns regarding food safety in educational institutions.
The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department, requesting comprehensive control over the school meal supply chain.
According to a document issued by the Department of Education and Training on the afternoon of January 30, the department has recently received numerous reports and information regarding risks of food safety issues in school meals, particularly concerning industrially prepared meals and pre-prepared meals provided by centralized kitchens to multiple educational institutions.
Although suppliers are licensed and have completed all necessary legal documents, actual implementation reveals that hygiene standards are still not being met, and processing, transportation, and distribution processes pose potential risks, causing deep concern among parents, schools, and society.
Given the direct health risks to students, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has requested the Food Safety Department to monitor the entire school meal supply chain.
Control measures related to raw materials, preliminary processing, processing, sample storage, transportation, and distribution within schools are in place; strict inspection is conducted on the implementation of the three-stage food inspection process, sample storage, prevention of cross-contamination, cooking oil, packaging materials, and utensils that come into contact with food.
This document requests the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department to not only check documents but also inspect the actual hygiene conditions, processing, storage, transportation, and distribution processes for school meals. Regular inspections as well as surprise inspections should be conducted, especially for large suppliers that provide meals to multiple schools.
It is known that on January 28, after a newspaper published an investigative report on a Sago Food facility (which showed pictures of meat that had expired several days earlier still being processed for use), several schools in Ho Chi Minh City announced they would stop providing school lunches from January 29.
The Department of Education and Training issued a document requesting all schools in the city to comprehensively review the organization of school lunch programs across the entire education sector.