Food Poisoning Kills 33 Vietnamese This Year

Vietnam reportedly witnesses 147 food poisoning cases this year, affecting 5,026 people and killing 33 others, the Thoi bao Kinh te newspaper reported, citing a health ministry official Dec. 25. Deputy Head of the Ministry of Health’s Food Hygiene and Safety Department Nguyen Thanh Phong said at a meeting in Hanoi on Dec. 24 that Vietnam recorded 60 deaths by food poisoning last year.  At the meeting, the department warned of a three-fold increase of importing meat and products from animals that failed to meet the standards of food hygiene and safety in 2009.