Vietnam: How is selling poor quality food handled?

The issue of food hygiene and safety has never been "cold" and always brings a sense of anxiety to consumers as well as many other consequences. The fact that people do not trust to consume a certain product also affects genuine business people.

The most prominent is the case of maggots crawling in food at the dormitory of Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City or hundreds of kilograms of frozen meat that did not ensure food safety were discovered in Dong Xoai. It is also because of this lack of awareness and ethics that so many people have to be hospitalized due to poisoning; causing damage not only to health but also money, time etc.

This is not something that happened recently, it has been around for a very long time. The students themselves, currently living and studying for many years around the university village area, have many times suffered the situation of encountering "Mr. Tao" after eating. Is the reason that Vietnamese law is not really strict?

According to Clause 1 Article 6 of the Law on Food Safety 2010 of Vietnam, food producers and traders that violate the law on food safely shall, depending on the nature and severity of their violations, be administratively handled or examined for penal liability. If causing damage, they shall pay compensations and remedy consequences under law.

In fact, stores that sell ready-made foods buy their own ingredients and prepare them at home. Using ingredients that do not meet food safety standards will result in administrative sanctions. Specifically, according to Article 20 of Decree No. 178/2013/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government:

1. A fine of between VND 500,000,000 and 1,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) To arrange the fast food, the cooked food for sale without hygienic preservation instruments, without tables or shelves with a distance higher than ground in accordance with regulations;

b) Failing to arrange separately fresh food and cooked food;

c) Using zones for processing, preservation, dining rooms which fail to ensure hygiene or have harmful insects or animals;

d) Using instruments to divide or contain food and eating utensils which fail to ensure hygiene;

dd) Failing to equip tools to contain garbage, wastes in accordance with regulation or equip but not ensure hygiene; failing to tidy up garbage, wastes every day.

2. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Using water which fail to meet technical regulations for processing food;

b) Using ingredients without papers proving source, origin; or ingredients which are expired for use, fail to ensure safety for processing food;

c) Using food additives without source, origin; or expired for use, not be stated in the list of food additives permitted use in accordance with regulations, failing to ensure safety for processing food;

d) Processing food which fails to ensure safety;

dd) Trading in service of catering failing to ensure food safety leading to food poisoning.

Suspension of operation of trading service of catering for 01 thru 03 months in case of repeating the acts of trading in service of catering failing to ensure food safety leading to food poisoning.

Moreover, remedial measures are also applied, specifically: Forcible destruction of food ingredients which do not identify source, origin; are expired, spoiled, putrid; Forcible payment for all costs to handle food poisoning, cost for medical examination and treatment for persons suffering food poisoning, for acts as specified.  

In addition to administrative sanctions, food service establishments are also subject to criminal sanctions according to Article 99 of the Criminal Code 1999 of Vietnam. To be specific:

- Any person who unintentionally causes the death of another person due to a breach of professional or administrative regulations shall be sentenced to between one and six years of imprisonment.

- Any person who commits the crime of unintentionally causing the death of more than one person shall be sentenced to between five and twelve years of imprisonment.

- Offenders may also be banned from holding certain posts, practicing certain occupations or doing certain jobs for one to five years.

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