A national workshop themed “Education, communication and food safety culture” was held in Da Lat city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on August 15, gathering over 100 delegates from ministries, sectors and localities nationwide.
The event was jointly held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)’s Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, the project “Food Safety for Development” (SAFEGRO), and the Department of Social Affairs under the Party Central Committee's Commission for Education and Information.
It aimed to raise public awareness of food safety, thus changing behaviours, customs and practices of production and business that cause food unsafety, contributing to protecting the health and lives of consumers.
Representatives of state management agencies in charge of food safety, relevant ministries and sectors presented reports on education, communication, and food safety culture in the field of agro-forestry-fishery production and business in Vietnam.
Delegates also focused their discussion on measures, and put forth proposals to improve the quality and efficiency of education and communication, and promote food safety culture in Vietnam.
Nguyen Nhu Tiep, Director of MARD’s Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, said that there are still cases of false advertising about product quality and food safety despite sanctions.
He stressed that it is necessary to develop and implement a strategy for education, communication and promoting food safety culture early, and integrate food safety culture into educational programmes.
Khong Manh Tuan, an official of the Department of Basic Information under the Ministry of Information and Communications, underlined the need to increase guidance on education and communication; set up hotlines to receive information about food safety; and promote communication activities on social networks in the context of strong development in social networks and the internet.
Meanwhile, Truong Thi Thu Thuy from the Department of Family and Social Affairs of the Vietnam Women's Union Central Committee, said apart from replicating food safety models, the agency will continue to promote communication campaigns on food safety, and encourage production facilities managed by women and supported by the association to sign commitments to produce safe food.
SAFEGRO is a non-refundable aid project worth 15 million CAD (nearly 11.2 million USD) funded by the Government of Canada. The project is implemented by Alinea International in collaboration with the University of Guelph of Canada./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency