National Food Safety Institute in the Pipeline

A national food safety institute will be set up this year as a unit of the Ministry of Health, said a ministry official.

The institute will function both as a policy maker on food safety issues and as a high level laboratory, equipped with state-of-the-art testing equipment capable of diagnosing rare or unusual diseases such as mad cow disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy).

In addition, food safety centers will be established in the central region, the Central Highlands, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho. The centers will act as links between the National Institute above them and district laboratories below.

The ministry will propose the government provide equipment for district laboratories and preventive health centers to allow them to carry out routine laboratory tests themselves, making them more efficient and self-reliant.

By PP - Translated by Uyen Phuong