Food poisoning raises alarm bell in Da Nang

DA NANG (VNS)— The central Da Nang City reported that it had 30 people suffered from food poisoning last year, an alarming figure compared to none the year before.

The report was released by head of Da Nang's Food Safety Department Nguyen Minh Tiet on Thursday, who added that these cases resulted in no deaths.

"Inspections uncovered 710 violations of food hygiene and safety regulations at food processing centres and restaurants, lower than the figure of 732 in 2011, but the number of people hospitalised with food poisoning surged," he said.

The worst case occurred in November when 26 people were admitted to hospital after eating meat pies from Dong Tien bakers in Hai Chau district.

Earlier in the year, four people fell ill after eating noodles at the Sandy Beach Resort in Ngu Hanh Son District.The city issued VND150 million in fines to punish the guilty parties.

According to a report, the city's food safety and hygiene agency destroyed 6.6 tonnes of rotten internal organs and 700kg of puffer fish – a fish that can be poisonous to humans.

The city also shut down 11 substandard food processing centres at Tho Quang seafood market in Son Tra District.

Also last year, 14 of 25 vegetable samples taken were found to have an excess of common bacteria including salmonela, coliform and Ecoli which are the most common causes of food poisoning.

Traces were also found in pork on sale at street stalls and markets. The city of 950,000 consumes 70,000 tonnes of seafood each year and 80,000 tonnes of vegetables. — VNS