Hanoi Plans $26.32M for Food Safety Project by 2015

Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi will implement a food safety and hygiene project worth VND500 billion ($26.32 million) from now up to 2015, said head of the municipal department of food safety and hygiene Le Duc Tho. Of the sum, VND150 billion comes from the state budget, VND300 billion from the city’s budget and the rest to be mobilized from international organizations, the Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted Tho as saying. The project aims to equip knowledge of food safety and hygiene for 95% of producers, 90% of traders and 100% of managers by 2015. Vietnam reported 20 food poisoning cases in May, killing ten people and affecting 704 others, the Ministry of Health said. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that Vietnam loses VND340 billion a year due to food poisoning.