Risk assessment supports modern food safety management

On February 6, the National Authority for Agro-Forestry-Fishery Quality, Processing, and Market Development (NAFIQPM), in coordination with the Safe Food for Growth Project (SAFEGRO), organized the Consultation Workshop on Sharing the Results of the Pilot Food Safety Risk Assessment. The event marked an important step in shifting from a management approach based solely on pre- and post-inspection toward evidence-based, systematic food safety management grounded in robust risk assessment.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Van Thuan, a representative of the National Authority for Agro-Forestry-Fishery Quality, Processing, and Market Development (NAFIQPM) and a member of the SAFEGRO Project Coordination Board, emphasized that risk assessment plays a core role and constitutes an indispensable foundation of modern food safety management.

However, when benchmarked against international standards, Viet Nam still faces certain “gaps” in terms of data availability and analytical capacity. Clearly recognizing these challenges, the SAFEGRO Project has identified risk assessment as a key intervention area to support Viet Nam.

“This is not a short-term campaign, but a multi-year roadmap focused on building a solid theoretical and practical foundation for technical staff. Many trainees have shared that this was the first time they had ever participated in such in-depth professional training. The capacity-building activities go beyond qualitative risk assessment and move toward quantitative risk analysis, providing concrete and accurate figures on the level of impact on consumer health,” Mr. Thuan noted.

Expert Brian Bedard underscored that food safety risk assessment cannot be sustainable without the clear and formal involvement of designated “risk managers.” Although the SAFEGRO Project has provided initial financial and technical support, he noted that the continuation and expansion of these efforts require official recognition by the Government of Viet Nam, including the clear identification and assignment of responsibility to specific risk managers with appropriate authority.

He further stressed that risk ranking and prioritization should be undertaken before launching additional risk assessments, in order to ensure that limited financial and human resources are directed toward the food safety risks that pose the greatest threat to consumers. In addition, Mr. Bedard also expressed his expectation of continued technical assistance from the Government of Canada, which he said would play an important role in guiding the overall roadmap and strengthening Viet Nam’s capacity for evidence-based food safety management.

In the context of food safety management in Viet Nam involving multiple ministries, including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the SAFEGRO Project has successfully established a network of dedicated officials from relevant functional agencies.

According to Mr. Do Thanh Lam, Project Director of SAFEGRO, this network has played an important role in helping the food safety sector gain a more concrete and comprehensive understanding of how to organize risk assessments in a structured and methodical way. This includes the entire process, from sample collection and laboratory testing to data analysis, interpretation, and the use of results to inform management decisions.

At the conclusion of the workshop, the organizers gathered a wide range of valuable inputs from delegates and experts to further refine the food safety risk assessment process in line with domestic conditions and harmonized with international practices. Once finalized, the SAFEGRO Project will transfer the results to NAFIQPM for dissemination to relevant regulatory authorities, providing a scientific basis for the development and improvement of food safety management mechanisms, policies, and regulations in the time ahead.

Within the framework of the programme, representatives of the Reference Testing & Agrifood Quality Services Center (RETAQ) and the National Institute for Food Control presented a number of representative food safety risk assessment results that have been carried out in recent years.

Specifically, the presentations focused on the assessment of histamine risks in fish sauce consumed in Ha Noi; the risk of heavy metal residues in several types of mushrooms commonly consumed in Ha Noi; the risk of Salmonella contamination in chicken meat from farm to table in Ha Noi; and the risk of histamine exposure resulting from the consumption of fish belonging to the Scombridae family in Nghe An Province.