Organized the Workshop "Improving food safety knowledge for Vietnamese consumers"

The seminar "Improving food safety knowledge for Vietnamese consumers" is the opening activity for a series of propaganda activities to contribute to improving general knowledge for consumers.

On April 7, the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association (VICOPRO), a member of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) and the ASEAN Consumer Protection Project (PROIECT), co-organized the Conference. “Improving food safety knowledge for Vietnamese consumers” in Hanoi.

Workshop "Improving food safety knowledge for Vietnamese consumers"

The seminar took place under the chairmanship of Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association and Mr. Daniel Hermann, representative of the ASEAN Consumer Protection Project (PROTECT), GIZ. The seminar also had the participation of speakers Associate Professor, Dr. Phan Thi Suu - Director of Technical Center for Food Safety and Hygiene, Dr. Tran Thi Dung and representatives of the Consumer Protection Association. provinces across the country.

Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association said that according to the International Consumer Organization (CI), an unhealthy diet is linked to 4 out of 10 causes. leading cause of death in the world; It's time for the world to realize the cost of unhealthy diets. All consumers have the right to food not only to eat, but food to be safe.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Chairman of Vietnam Consumer Protection Association

"In Vietnam, despite the State's attention, food safety is still one of the biggest challenges for consumers. Many cases of food poisoning, even collective poisoning, still occur, affecting health Consumers are facing challenges and increasing concerns about their health as well as those of their family members in the face of the danger of unsafe food causing any any time in everyday life".

The question is how to minimize the damage caused by unsafe food? Food safety is the responsibility of the state; of manufacturers, businesses and consumers. The cycle "from farm to fork", food safety depends on production, processing, transportation, storage and use. Right from the production stage, the use of plant protection chemicals, growth stimulants, weight gainers, lean substances, antibiotics outside the list in livestock production; the use of preservatives, food additives, and colorings that are not allowed to be used in food preservation and processing... are the leading causes of food safety loss. That is the responsibility of the producer and trader.

However, consumers, who are the purchasers, end users of food, who play a decisive role in their own health and their families, have limited awareness and skills about food safety. . Therefore, there have been many deaths due to lack of common knowledge, accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms, puffer fish... In fact, many cases of food poisoning, even food poisoning. Collectively, hundreds of people infected at factories and schools have happened in many localities and units.

Today, consumers are increasingly interested in safe food, organic products. However, not everyone has the ability to realize. Therefore, educating and improving knowledge, first of all, common knowledge for consumers about food safety, to help them have the ability to select, process, preserve and use in the most beneficial way for consumers. Health is essential.

Carrying out the function of propagating, disseminating and educating the law and consumer knowledge, the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association and the German Federal Development Cooperation Organization (GIZ), within the framework of the Project " Protecting Consumers in ASEAN” (PROTECT), sponsored by GIZ, jointly developed and published the Handbook on Food Safety for Consumers and 4 Manuals on Food Safety for Consumers. The goal is to widely distribute to NTDs nationwide. The target audience is the majority of consumers who need essential knowledge of basic information on food safety, so the document is not professional or academic, but expressed in a common and accessible language.

During the seminar, the speakers presented topics that provide useful information and knowledge to Vietnamese consumers on issues such as: Food safety, Food Poisoning & food-borne diseases ; Food safety standards and certifications; Food labels and food additives; Defective Product Recalls and Food Complaints...

This seminar is the opening activity for a series of propaganda activities to contribute to improving general knowledge for consumers to choose and process food to ensure safety and nutrition; know how to well perform the rights and obligations of food consumers to protect the health of themselves and their families.

VAFOST(By Thuong truong)