Dr Fred Unger: 18 years catalyzing Viet Nam’s scientific foundation for food safety

[Nearly two decades devoted to Viet Nam’s food safety “hotspots”

Having joined ILRI in the early 2000s and worked across several countries, Dr. Fred Unger devoted the greatest share of his career to Viet Nam. He arrived in Hanoi at a time when the country was grappling with avian influenza, zoonotic diseases, and major weaknesses in food safety along small-scale value chains. From that point, he became one of the first international experts to promote interdisciplinary approaches, the foundation of what would later be known as One Health.

To colleagues, his most familiar image is of early-morning surveys at local slaughterhouses, traditional markets in Hung Yen or Nghe An, or smallholder pig farms in the Mekong Delta. His deep field knowledge and context-specific methods ensured that the studies he led were practical and applicable, not merely theoretical.

From as early as 2008, when ILRI began its work on food safety in Viet Nam, he championed the adoption of risk assessment, an international standard in food safety management. This approach later became the basis for training Viet Nam’s first generation of risk analysis specialists.

Projects that shifted Viet Nam’s food safety landscape

During his 18 years in the country, Dr. Unger played a leading technical role in several major initiatives, many of which are considered turning points in Viet Nam’s food safety research and governance.

EcoZD (2008–2012) Applied eco-health approaches to zoonotic disease surveillance, giving Viet Nam a more holistic understanding of diseases such as rabies, leptospirosis, and avian influenza in smallholder livestock systems.

PigRISK (2012–2017) The first study to comprehensively analyze food safety risks across Viet Nam’s small-scale pork value chain, from farm to table. PigRISK documented contamination at nearly every stage: production, slaughter, transport, processing, and retail. It also contributed to the establishment of the Food Safety Risk Assessment Working Group in 2013 and informed Viet Nam’s first evidence-based Food Safety Risk Management Report in 2017.

SafePORK (2017–2023) Perhaps the most visible in terms of practical impact, SafePORK piloted low-cost interventions such as stainless-steel cutting tables, hygiene toolkits, and zoning for raw and cooked meat at slaughterhouses and retail stalls. These solutions reduced Salmonella contamination from 52% to 24% and significantly improved food safety practices among more than 700 value chain actors.

Many of these models were later scaled up in Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Thua Thien Hue, Can Tho, and Dong Nai under CGIAR’s One Health initiative, demonstrating the feasibility of Fred Unger’s evidence-based approach.

A consistent theme in his work was translating research into policy recommendations. Numerous technical guidelines issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment between 2016 and 2024, on small-scale slaughtering, pig disease surveillance, and improving food safety in traditional markets, drew directly from ILRI’s data.

When African swine fever (ASF) struck Viet Nam in 2019, his team analyzed its socio-economic impacts, transmission mechanisms, and the bottlenecks that hindered disease control at the local level. These findings were cited widely in advisory reports and helped shape strategies for restocking, biosecurity, and post-outbreak livelihoods.

His greatest legacy: A new generation of Vietnamese experts

Beyond research outputs, Dr. Fred Unger is among the international experts with the longest record of training young Vietnamese professionals in One Health and food safety. More than 60 researchers, veterinarians, and government officers participated in his workshops, field activities, and training programs. Many of them now serve as leading specialists in food safety, risk analysis, and veterinary epidemiology.

At international forums, he also worked tirelessly to connect Viet Nam with global research institutions, broadening the country’s opportunities for cooperation in One Health and food safety.

During a recent appreciation ceremony, the Food Safety Technical Working Group expressed deep gratitude for his steadfast contributions over 18 years of partnership with Viet Nam’s food safety system.

Even as he steps down after nearly two decades in the country, Dr. Fred Unger has affirmed that he will continue supporting Viet Nam through ILRI and CGIAR projects whenever possible. For many generations of Vietnamese researchers and officials, he is not only an international expert but also a close friend, someone who walked alongside Viet Nam in building its scientific foundations for food safety and public health.