HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội will deploy five cars this year to check the quality of food in markets, supermarkets and food stores in an effort to prevent low-quality food from being consumed, said Trần Văn Chung, deputy director of the municipal Health Department.

The cars will show the results on the spot. Food products contaminated with chemicals will be seized immediately, which will make the public aware that the Government is serious about food safety, Chung said.

One car is being used by Hà Nội’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Two cars are currently managed by the local Health Department, while two others are under the management of the city’s Department of Industry and Trade.

According to Chung, Hà Nội this year has continued to develop safe food supply and production chains.

The city currently has 60 food chains involved in production, processing and distribution and has worked with other localities in managing safe food chains, such as VietGAP vegetables of Hòa Bình Province, Biggreen, Fivimart supermarkets of Sơn La Province and DaBaCo chicken of Bắc Ninh Province.

The city aims to step up food-quality management in markets and small-scale slaughter houses and will consider eliminating temporary markets.

Chung said in 2018, every commune in the city will have a public servant in charge of food safety. He also said many challenges remained in the fight against contaminated food.

People involved in food production and business put profit as their top priority so they fail to follow food safety regulations and lack the responsibility for ensuring community health. Consumers, meanwhile, continue to purchase food without clear origins, Chung said.

Last year, Hà Nội deployed three cars to check food quality on the spot. More than 1,100 food samples were checked, of which 85 were found to contain chemicals and prohibited substances.

Inter-sector food inspection teams conducted tests at more than 111,100 facilities and found over 26,300 violations. — VNS