HCM CITY — Consumers in HCM City can trace the origin of chicken meat and eggs they buy at both traditional and modern retail outlets starting on October 3.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Nguyễn Ngọc Hòa, deputy director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, said poultry eggs and meat are essential foods whose quality and production process are important to consumers.

The traceability programme would make people more confident about consuming local products, he said.

Origin-traceable duck eggs are being supplied from today by Vĩnh Thành Đạt Food Company to Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, Co.op Food and Co.opSmile systems, and his department is working to ensure the eggs are supplied city-wide as soon as possible, he said. 

To trace the origin of the products, customers can download the QR Code decoding application from www.te-food.com to their devices.

By scanning the stamps on packages, customers can get information about the poultry meat and eggs from the hatching to final stages.

Their prices remain unchanged, Hòa said.

Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Trang, a District 1 resident, said: “I usually buy food at Bến Thành Market. I appreciate the city’s traceability programme and hope more and more products [are included].”

Thirty five farms supplying chicks, 431 farms that provide chicken meat, 61 chicken and duck egg farms, 17 slaughterhouses and meat packaging establishments, and nine egg packaging establishments have registered to join the programme.

Hòa admitted that the origin of half the city’s supply of poultry meat is untraceable because it is sold without packaging at traditional markets and it is hard to stick stamps on unpackaged meat.

The department plans to persuade traders at such markets to sell packaged meat, he said.

There are more than 1,749 sales points selling traceable poultry meat and eggs in the city. — VNS