'Once poisoned, always scared'

"It's better to be as thorough as possible!"

In mid-April, on a hot day in Ho Chi Minh City, after a meal out, Ms. Chuc Linh had a stomachache and had to go to the bathroom frequently. The condition lasted for 2 days and showed no signs of improvement, so she went to the hospital and was diagnosed with an intestinal infection.

"I think I ate unclean food outside, because in this hot weather, food can easily spoil and cause food poisoning, which is unhygienic. For several days, I felt uncomfortable, couldn't eat or drink anything, and had no spirit to work. I was so scared!", she recalled.

Hot weather, many people are concerned about food safety and hygiene at sidewalk eateries and street vendors.

The incident was a wake-up call, making Ms. Linh more careful and attentive to her eating habits. From now on, she will limit the amount of food she buys from street vendors and sidewalk restaurants because she is worried about health problems and food poisoning that may happen again.

Ms. Chuc Linh said that currently, she mainly buys food and drinks at large, reputable shops. If she buys drinks at a sidewalk shop, she also chooses to buy from familiar shops that she has been drinking at for many years, not from strange shops or from sellers who move around a lot because of the potential risks.

“I am also very careful about drinking ice cubes these days. Ice from sidewalk shops in many places will have unknown origins and be unclean, and drinking it can easily cause stomach aches and sore throats. In general, with the heat like this, it is better to be careful than not to have had it happen once, I am so scared,” she added.

Hot weather and high temperatures cause bacteria to grow, making food spoil more easily than normal.

Kim Thoa (25 years old, living in District 8) said that in early April, she took her friend to see a doctor at a traditional medicine clinic in District 6. While waiting, she was invited to buy some rice cakes with pork sausage by a woman selling them.

Normally, Ms. Thoa said she rarely buys "mobile" cakes like that because of the high risk of bacterial contamination and unknown origin. Not to mention, she also read a lot of information about poisoning cases from spoiled pork sausage, so she is haunted, if buying such street food and there is any health problem, she also does not know how to find the seller to take responsibility.

“So I refused to buy her food. But she kept insisting, so I bought two portions of cake for 20,000 VND. To be honest, I bought them to support her, but I didn’t dare eat them. On hot days like this, it’s better to be careful,” she said.

If anything happens, the restaurant will "take the blame"

Mr. L., the owner of a sidewalk noodle shop in District 5 that has been open for more than 5 years, said that food safety is always the most important thing for the shop, because if any problem occurs, the shop will "take the blame".

Many people said they limit eating street food at this time.

In hot weather, he pays more attention to this issue, as food left outside can easily spoil and spoil. Selling from morning to night, Mr. L. prepares enough ingredients for the whole day, but always keeps them in the refrigerator to avoid spoilage.

“I bring out the ingredients as needed, instead of leaving them on the counter from morning to night. Doing so will make the food no longer delicious, not to mention the quality is not guaranteed, which can easily lead to bad things happening,” the owner said.

Meanwhile, a woman selling banh day kep cha in District 8 said that she only sells in the morning every day, until she runs out. Although she sells on the street, she tries to cover it well, and uses fresh ingredients every day, not leaving them overnight to sell again the next day.

The restaurant owner also focuses on preserving food during hot weather.

“If the products don’t sell well, my family will eat them, but it would be a shame to throw them away. So I do this as if I were doing it for my family. I have to be conscientious when selling. I sell in this area where everyone is familiar with me. If there is any problem, it will be a big scandal and I won’t be able to do any business,” she said.

"Will deal with it severely!"

Ho Chi Minh City is in the "Month of action for food safety in 2024" with the theme: "Continuing to ensure food security and safety in the new situation". The month of action takes place from April 15 to May 15, 2024.

Associate Professor Dr. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety, recommends that people need to be more careful about food hygiene and safety during this hot season.

She said that especially with street food stalls, especially mobile stalls, there are not many means of food preservation, and cleaning dishes is also difficult. Not to mention that they move and travel to many places, which increases the risk of bacteria contaminating food, not ensuring safety.

According to Ms. Lan, with 15,400 street food vendors in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety focuses on raising awareness for them such as training and equipping them with hygienic cooking utensils. They are also among the subjects that regularly take food samples for testing. During the inspection process, if any violations are discovered that cause food safety problems, the Department will handle them immediately.

"There are cases where we have found sushi where rice is cooked the day before and rolled the next morning, then cut into pieces and sold to students. There are also cases where banh gio is sold but not sold yet, then reheated and sold again the next day, and pork sausage is still sold when it is slimy. The risk of poisoning and food safety is very high," Ms. Pham Khanh Phong Lan warned.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thoi-tiet-tphcm-nang-nong-nhieu-nguoi-ne-hang-rong-bi-ngo-doc-mot-lan-so-luon-185240424142402411.htm