Deputy PM Pham Thi Thanh Tra: Tighten School Food Safety, Expedite Amendments to Food Safety Law
The government orders intensified inspections and strict penalties for food safety violations, particularly in school kitchens, while accelerating amendments to the Food Safety Law.
On the morning of July 14th, at the Government Office, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra, Head of the Inter-agency Steering Committee on Food Safety, chaired a crucial meeting to assess the current situation and initiate key tasks.
Reporting at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen emphasized that the legal framework for food safety is being continuously refined. Notably, the Ministry of Health is urgently finalizing the revised Law on Food Safety to be submitted to the National Assembly in its second session this October.
Inspection and enforcement efforts have been executed decisively. In the first six months of 2026, the health sector inspected over 118,000 establishments, identified more than 5,600 violations, and imposed administrative penalties totaling over 20.2 billion VND. The Police and Market Management forces have also achieved significant results in dismantling organizations producing counterfeit goods and low-quality functional foods.
However, the Deputy PM expressed deep concern regarding the increasing trend of food poisoning, especially within school kitchens. With 12 poisoning incidents occurring in schools affecting 741 students in the first half of the year, the Deputy PM affirmed this is an alarming issue directly impacting the quality of future human resources.
Concluding the session, Deputy PM Pham Thi Thanh Tra affirmed the principle of zero tolerance for violations. She ordered ministries and agencies to accelerate digital transformation, build a national database on food safety, and tighten school kitchen management through strict food source monitoring measures.
The Deputy PM emphasized: "Schools must be the safest environments for our future generations". The government has directed the Ministry of Health to focus inspections on educational institutions and street food vendors while increasing the accountability of local authorities regarding food safety supervision.
