Ensuring food safety and hygiene: Diversifying communication forms, raising public awareness

– In recent years, Party committees from provincial to grassroots levels and sectors have strengthened law propaganda and education and disseminated knowledge on food safety and hygiene in various forms in accordance with the actual situation. Thereby, raising public awareness, contributing to the prevention of food poisoning.

Lang Son is a mountainous, border province, always has potential risks of smuggled goods of unknown origin, causing problems in food safety and hygiene. Therefore, in recent years, the Provincial Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department has actively advised Department of Health and the Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on Food Hygiene and Safety to pay attention to well propagating about food safety and hygiene, diversifying propaganda contents, forms and bringing knowledge on food safety and hygiene to the community, especially people in remote and extremely difficult areas.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Anh, Director of the Provincial Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department said that in recent years, the Provincial Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department has coordinated with committees, agencies, Fatherland Front Committees and mass organizations,… to strengthen communication in the field of food safety and hygiene to cadres, members and the people. In particular, since the Covid-19 epidemic appeared (from January 2020), propaganda work has been carried out in many forms, suitable to each time of the epidemic’s developments.

An officer of the Provincial Women’s Union distributed leaflets propagate about food safety and hygiene at the riverside market, Lang Son city (Photo taken before April 27, 2021)

From 2020 to now, the Provincial Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department has coordinated with media agencies to strengthen propaganda with about 30 news and reportage articles on food safety and hygiene. At the same time, building 79 news and articles published on the Health Newsletter, websites of Food Safety and Hygiene Department, Department of Health, the Provincial Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department, Lang Son Food Safety Zalo. Along with that, the Sub-Department has printed 90 propaganda banners hanging on major roads of Lang Son city and districts. At the same time, transfering four VCDs to the Provincial Radio and Television Station, 52 CDs to the offices of the People’s Councils – People’s Committees of districts and Lang Son city for propaganda.

Especially, during the time when the epidemic was under control (May, June 2020 and the first four months of 2021), the Provincial Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department organized 36 training courses on food safety and hygiene knowledge for more than 1,400 managers and employees, collective kitchens of schools, food production, processing and business establishments, officers of village, street block women’s unions. Not only are they trained in knowledge related to food safety and hygiene, trainees are also equipped with oral communication skills, thereby becoming active communicators in the community, helping people improve their knowledge on food safety and hygiene, prevent food poisoning.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Head of Bai Hao Village Women’s Union, Chi Lang commune, Chi Lang district said that many people in the village often have the habit of going to the forest to pick mushrooms to eat. In 2017, the village had one case of forest mushroom poisoning, causing one death. Since then, cadres and members of the village women’s union have spent time researching propaganda materials, participating in training courses, updating knowledge on food safety and hygiene, disseminating and helping people raise awareness of using safe food, preventing poisoning. As a result, in recent years, there has been no food poisoning in the area.

An officer of the Provincial Women’s Union distributed leaflets to propagate about food safety and hygiene at Dong Kinh market, Lang Son city (Photo taken before April 27, 2021)

In addition, from 2020 to now, the Provincial Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department has coordinated with relevant authorities to organize mobile propaganda in the districts, attracting 132 cadres, party members and the people to participate in activities. On the other hand, inspections are also an opportunity to propagate, remind and guide food production, processing and business establishments to overcome limitations and strictly implement measures to ensure food safety and hygiene according to the provisions of the law.

Through propaganda on food safety and hygiene, it has helped people raise awareness and change behaviors to be healthy so that people and communities can actively prevent and control food poisoning and food-borne diseases. Ms. Hoang Thi Tinh, Na Duong township, Loc Binh district shared that through listening to the propaganda on loudspeakers, radio and reading leaflets, she also knows more about how to choose fresh food for her family, how to preserve it to ensure food quality. She also reminds her children not to arbitrarily pick and eat vegetables and mushrooms that grow wild in the forest and in the garden.

The above fact shows that propaganda activities are regularly, timely and synchronously deployed from the province to communes, wards and townships, even in remote areas, which has contributed to raising food consumers, producers, processors and businesses’ awareness of law compliance on food safety and hygiene.

In the coming time, in the face of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic, the Provincial Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department will advise Department of Health and the Provincial Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on Food Hygiene and Safety to continue to well propagandize and raise people’s awareness of safe food use and strengthen the management, control and assurance of food safety and hygiene in quarantine areas, processing facilities, online food business… to ensure health for the people in the area

According to the report of the Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department, from 2020 to now, 34/34 food production and business establishments, food service, drinking water production, collective kitchens in enterprises, hospitals and schools are tested to ensure food safety conditions. From the beginning of 2020 until now, the whole province has not had collective food poisoning.