Investigation and handling of suspected food poisoning case at Lao Cai College

According to information from the Food Safety Department, this agency has just received information reflecting on a suspected food poisoning incident that occurred at Lao Cai College.

Lao Cai College is located on M9 Street, Bac Cuong Ward, Lao Cao City, Lao Cai Province. The Food Safety Department received information that 49 students had symptoms of stomachache, nausea and diarrhea after having dinner at the school canteen.

The Food Safety Department received information reflecting on a suspected food poisoning incident occurring at Lao Cai College.

Faced with the above situation, the Food Safety Department issued Official Dispatch No. 2607/ATTP-NDTT dated October 10, 2024 requesting the Lao Cai Provincial Department of Health to temporarily suspend the operation of the school canteen where food poisoning is suspected.

Organize investigations and trace the origin of food to clearly identify the source of raw materials and food for processing facilities suspected of causing poisoning; take food and specimen samples for testing to find the cause; Detect and strictly handle violations of food safety regulations (if any) and publicize the results to promptly warn the community.

Strengthen propaganda and guidance for collective kitchens and food service establishments to ensure hygiene and food safety conditions, strictly implement management of food ingredients' origin, three-step food inspection, food sample storage and hygiene in processing stages.

Strictly implement the contents of Official Dispatch No. 2487/BYT-ATTP dated May 11, 2024 and Official Dispatch No. 3113/BYT-ATTP dated June 7, 2024 of the Ministry of Health on preventing and handling food poisoning and strengthening food poisoning prevention.

Regarding recent food poisoning cases, according to Mr. Nguyen Hung Long, Deputy Director of the Department of Food Safety, Ministry of Health, Salmonella bacteria have recently appeared continuously in major poisoning cases in Vietnam.

Salmonella is the culprit that caused hundreds of people to be hospitalized after eating Phuong bread in Quang Nam and many mass poisoning cases in Nha Trang, including the case of more than 360 people being hospitalized after eating chicken rice at Tram Anh restaurant, Ba Trieu street and more than 600 students and staff of Ischool Nha Trang being hospitalized after lunch, including 1 death; the poisoning case after the Mid-Autumn Festival night in Ho Chi Minh City.

Salmonella bacteria commonly cause diarrhea, but can also infect other parts of the body, including the blood, bones, and joints.

Hot summer with high temperatures can easily cause food to spoil, become contaminated with bacteria, and the risk of gastrointestinal infections due to food poisoning increases, not only from group meals but also in each family.

Therefore, to prevent disease, people must eat cooked food, drink boiled water, and cook food to a safe temperature before eating.

Regarding the number of food poisoning cases, information from the Ministry of Health shows that in the first 6 months of 2024, the number of food poisoning cases increased by more than 300% compared to the same period last year.

In particular, there have been cases of poisoning affecting hundreds of people. Worryingly, there have been cases where the cause of the poisoning has not been determined. According to Mr. Do Xuan Tuyen, Deputy Minister of Health, in the past 5 years, an average of 100 cases of food poisoning have been recorded each year.

Specifically, in the first 6 months of 2024, the number of cases decreased but the number of infected people increased and they were all large cases, with several hundred people infected each case. The largest case occurred in Vinh Phuc on May 14 with 438 infected people.

2024 is the 12th year since the Food Safety Law was promulgated and put into effect, along with Decree 15 and circulars of ministries and branches participating in food management.

However, food poisoning still occurs and is of greatest concern in densely populated industrial zones. School meal provision remains a problem. Food poisoning is still a concern at banquets in both urban and rural areas.

According to medical experts, unsanitary food is one of the main causes of terrible consequences. Not only acute poisoning can be fatal, but contamination with toxic substances below the threshold can, over time, cause unforeseen diseases, such as cancer, unexplained dysfunction, infertility, and even birth defects.

Food insecurity has many causes such as overlapping in state management; local irresponsibility and lack of close supervision; livestock and crop farmers using growth stimulants without permission;

The greedy traders, processors and finally the careless users (although that is very difficult).

It is known that there are currently 3 sectors including Health, Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development participating in food sector management, each Ministry and sector manages a number of products.

That is why there is overlap and interweaving between product groups, when there is an incident, the responsibility is not clear, so management is ineffective. Thus, to ensure food safety, it is necessary to build a "chain"; food insecurity leading to food poisoning has actually formed a "chain", so to solve the root of this problem, there must be synchronous measures.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/dieu-tra-xu-ly-vu-nghi-ngo-ngo-doc-thuc-pham-tai-truong-cao-dang-lao-cai-d227162.html