Hanoi strengthens food safety inspections for Tet and the 2025 festival season

Hanoi is organizing inspection teams to ensure food safety during Tet and the Spring Festival in 2025 to detect violations and prevent dirty food from reaching people.

Hanoi is organizing inspection teams to ensure food safety during Tet and the Spring Festival in 2025 to detect violations and prevent dirty food from reaching people.

Hanoi City's No. 1 interdisciplinary food safety inspection team, led by Deputy Director of the Department of Health Vu Cao Cuong, inspected food safety work during Tet and the 2025 Spring Festival in Chuong My district and Ha Dong district.

The Hanoi People's Committee has decided to establish four interdisciplinary food safety inspection teams during the 2025 Tet holiday.

In Chuong My district, the delegation directly inspected the actual conditions of Alishan Food Processing and Manufacturing Company Limited (a chicken feet processing facility) in Phu Yen village, Truong Yen commune. At the time of inspection, the facility had 15 workers participating in food processing, however, the facility had not yet presented complete health examination records of the workers.

The head of the Hanoi Food Safety and Hygiene Department, Mr. Dang Thanh Phong, pointed out a number of shortcomings in the production process at this facility. Specifically, the production process has not been arranged according to the one-way rule; the drainage system is not sealed; the walls, ceilings, and floors are still damp and moldy, and there is a lack of storage for finished products.

Regarding the origin of the chicken feet, the facility said it imported them from a company in Thai Binh province. The Hanoi Department of Food Safety and Hygiene will coordinate with the authorities of Thai Binh province to trace the origin. If the facility cannot prove the origin of the product, it will be strictly punished. In addition, the inspection team also took samples of the chicken feet for quality testing.

According to the report of the Steering Committee for Food Safety in Chuong My district, the district currently has more than 3,700 establishments producing, processing, trading food, catering services and street food.

To ensure food safety during Tet 2025, the district has established 3 interdisciplinary inspection teams and inspected 160 establishments, discovering 10 establishments violating mainly the conditions of equipment and tools that are not guaranteed, with a total fine of nearly 10 million VND.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health, Vu Cao Cuong, suggested that Chuong My district continue to strengthen inspections, especially of food items used frequently during Tet, to prevent food poisoning.

In Ha Dong district, the delegation decided to temporarily suspend the operation of a confectionery production facility due to violations of food hygiene and safety regulations.

The facility that was suspended was Hai Viet Food Company Limited, which had many serious problems. The facilities here were seriously degraded, the factory was not regularly maintained, cobwebs were everywhere and the environment was not hygienic.

The inspection team noted that the facility was producing large quantities of confectionery for the Tet holiday, but many finished products were placed directly on the floor without any protection from environmental contamination. In addition, workers did not use protective clothing, gloves or masks when in direct contact with the products.

The head of the Hanoi Food Safety and Hygiene Department, Mr. Dang Thanh Phong, said that the hygiene situation at the Hai Viet facility not only did not improve but also became more serious compared to the previous inspection, even though the facility had been reminded many times.

Ha Dong District currently has 6,800 food production, processing and trading establishments, along with 3 commercial centers, 14 supermarkets and 16 traditional markets.

To ensure food safety, the district has established 21 interdisciplinary inspection teams, inspected 15 establishments and fined 2 establishments VND21 million, destroying goods worth more than VND13.7 million. The wards have inspected 71 establishments, fined 25 establishments with a total fine of more than VND54.7 million.

The head of the inspection team emphasized that Hanoi will strictly handle violations to ensure safe and quality food sources for people. People are also advised to choose food at reputable establishments with clear inspections to protect their family's health.

Previously, the Hanoi People's Committee decided to establish four interdisciplinary food safety inspection teams during the 2025 Tet holiday. These teams will inspect food production, processing and trading establishments, wholesale markets, supermarkets, shopping malls and food service establishments, especially those producing and trading food items used frequently during Tet and festivals.

Hanoi currently has 72,671 food production, trading and processing establishments, with a total area of 5,044 hectares of safe vegetable cultivation. In 2024, Hanoi inspected 70,809 establishments, imposing fines of more than VND 14.1 billion on 3,234 establishments for violations.

Common violations in 2024 include: failure to ensure storage and display areas for goods, trading in food of unknown origin or using ingredients of unknown origin, and violating hygiene conditions in the kitchen area.

Hanoi also destroyed 199 types of violating products from 5,709 establishments, including 10,000 moon cakes and 14,221 kg of food of unknown origin.

The Hanoi People's Council has passed a resolution stipulating fines for a number of administrative violations in the field of food safety. Fines can be up to VND120 million for violations of regulations on food safety certificates. The fines will take effect from January 1, 2025.

The inspection and handling of food safety violations in Hanoi have been carried out seriously and strictly in 2024, contributing to protecting public health. The city will continue to maintain and improve the effectiveness of monitoring, inspection and handling of violations in 2025 to ensure a peaceful and safe Tet holiday for the people.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/ha-noi-tang-cuong-kiem-tra-an-toan-thuc-pham-tet-va-mua-le-hoi-nam-2025-d236347.html