Vietnam transitions to risk-based food safety management

Vietnam's Ministry of Health is transitioning its food safety management strategy from controlling individual stages of the supply chain to a comprehensive, risk-based approach. This shift, proposed in a draft amendment to the Law on Food Safety, aims to manage the entire value chain—from initial production and processing to distribution and consumption—based on scientific evidence and risk levels.

To support this transition, the Vietnam Food Administration and the National Institute for Food Control (NIFC) are establishing a national food safety database. This initiative includes international cooperation with the China Food Safety Risk Assessment Center and Seoul National University of Science and Technology in South Korea to conduct practical risk analyses.

By utilizing CODEX international standards, the new system will focus on risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. This framework is designed to enable proactive prevention, rapid traceability, and efficient resource allocation by identifying chemical, physical, microbiological, and allergenic hazards before they impact public health.