Vietnam is estimated to have recorded 75 food poisoning cases in the first eight months of this year, affecting 3,900 people, including nine deaths, the government’s General Statistics Office (GSO) said.
In July, the country also reported 19 such cases involving over 1,000 local people in 15 provinces and cities nationwide. Of the total 19 poisoning cases, five were caused by natural toxins, five were resulted from microorganism, two by chemicals, one by high histamine levels in tuna and the six remaining cases has not been found. More and more toxic chemicals in food samples along with a series of collective food poisoning cases have been reported in recent times, raising the public concerns over food safety and hygiene violation. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that Vietnam loses VND340 billion ($16.51 million) from food poisoning a year. (GSO Aug Edition)
