(PLO)- The issue of supervising boarding meals and ensuring food safety in schools is of particular concern to Ho Chi Minh City after the food poisoning incident at iSchool Nha Trang.
While the authorities do not have enough force to regularly check the work of food hygiene and safety at schools, many schools in Ho Chi Minh City have increased supervision to ensure that their meals are safe. students (HS) are safe.
Principals directly check students’ meals
Mr. Dinh Phu Cuong, Principal of Nguyen Van Luong Secondary School, District 6, shared that the school has more than 1,300 students registered for part-boarding. The school organizes on-site cooking, food safety and quality of meals are paid special attention.
To ensure safety, input food sources are carefully selected by the school. The management board will regularly check the source from the import stage, supervise the processing process. In particular, the management board will directly check the students’ meals and provide them with supplies. “This job will help me grasp the quality of the meal through each of the children’s comments and suggestions,” said Mr. Cuong.
 |
| Representative board of students’ parentstogether Principal of Nguyen Thai Son Primary School, District 3 supervises day-boarding meals. Photo: NGUYEN QUEEN |
Nguyen Thai Son Primary School, District 3 also organizes cooking at the school for more than 2,000 students, so food safety is always a focus of the school. According to Mr. Dinh Huu Dac, the school’s principal, the kitchen is arranged in a one-way process in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Health. After the food is finished, the kitchen department will preliminarily prepare and process it, then put it in the dividing area and finally use a dedicated vehicle to transport food to the students.
“The Board of Directors always has a plan to supervise, but with the responsibility of being the head of the unit, I often do this work and always make unexpected checks. One day, as long as a child complains that the food is not good, I will immediately work with the menu planning department to find out and make reasonable adjustments. Ensuring food safety for students is always the top priority of the school,” said Mr. Dac.
Not only strengthening meal control, Huynh Khuong Ninh Secondary School, District 1 also regularly organizes seminars to help students have knowledge and skills to prevent food poisoning. Recently, the school organized a topic on food safety for students. The children were taught by experts to distinguish between foods to eat and five keys to ensure safety.
Huynh Khuong Ninh Secondary School has about 600 students who live at the school. For many years, the school has ordered industrial meals. “Every year, the school organizes 2-3 topics for students from the beginning of the year, the middle of the year and the end of the year. This activity will equip students with skills and knowledge to choose the right food not only in school but also outside. From there, help them recognize and choose safe food,” said Ms. Bui Thi Tra My, the school’s Vice Principal.
According to Ms. My, meal supervision is always strictly and according to regulations. Every year the school’s parent association visits the catering facility to supervise.
Parents “get involved”
Poisoning incidents in recent years have made parents worried about the quality of school meals. For peace of mind, many parents have cooperated with the school in supervising the meal preparation process. In Ho Chi Minh City, the participation of parents in monitoring has been implemented by many schools with the aim of how students can have delicious, nutritious and especially safe meals.
From 5:30 a.m., Ms. Huynh Ngoc Thu Tra and the representative board of parents of students from Nguyen Thai Son Primary School, District 3 were present at the school’s semi-boarding meal processing area to supervise the process from supplies, Preliminary processing, processing to transporting meals to each student.
 |
Students from Huynh Khuong Ninh Secondary School, District 1 participated in a food safety topic. In the picture: Students choose safe fried chicken. Photo: NGUYEN QUEEN |
“The board of representatives of students’ parents alternately appoints meal supervisors. Normally, it will be done weekly, but will go on irregular and irregular days to evaluate from the input food source, how the food processing process is, whether it is safe or not” – Ms. Tra expressed.
According to Ms. Tra, the supervision of parents is like a stepping stone, prompting the school to strictly control the processes in implementing day-boarding meals. The Board of Parents’ representatives will always accompany the school to provide students with quality meals.
At the beginning of November 2022, Ms. Tran Thi Thu Phuong, whose child is studying at Nguyen Van Luong Secondary School, District 6, participated in supervising the school’s day-boarding meal.
The school encourages parents to supervise unexpectedly, without planning in advance. Parents who need to go to the school gate to call the management board will be welcomed and instructed to check the rooms. “Although without prior notice, when observing the processing process of the kitchen department, I felt quite reassured. From understanding how food is processed, how is the quality of your child’s meals… parents will feel more secure. It’s just that the supervision of parents is not regular because they still have to work,” added Phuong.
Meanwhile, Trung Trac Primary School, District 11 allows parents to register for lunch with their children to comment on the quality of the boarding meal. This plan is supported by many parents who are willing to take the time to participate.
Organizing inspection and handlingphysicalDwaterloggedIf you make a mistake,
 |
The Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Management Board and the Department of Education and Training have signed and implemented a plan to ensure food safety at educational institutions in the city. Every year, the management board organizes an inspection of the school canteen, the facilities that provide ready-to-eat meals for the school and strictly handle the violations if they detect any violations, and at the same time recommend these units to use the food of the schools. The company has full legal records.
Grandma PHAM KHANH PHONG LAN, Head of Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Management Board
Unscheduled inspection of food safety at schools
 |
The Department has directed the inspection team to coordinate with the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Management Board to inspect all units. The content of the inspection is related to food safety and will be subject to a surprise inspection. The Department of Education and Training also directs schools to coordinate with the representative board of parents to supervise the processing and cost of daily meals.
The head of the unit is responsible for controlling the food quality of the kitchens and canteens to ensure compliance with regulations, with clear origin and origin.
On the other hand, the Department of Education and Training has organized more than 12 training courses with the participation of more than 24,000 health professionals in the industry. In addition, the department has coordinated with the City Food Safety Management Board to record a video to guide medical staff and school leaders in cases of food poisoning to know how to handle it at the school according to the correct process.
Grandfather HO TAN MINH,Chief of Office of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training
Strictly control the school kitchen process
 |
For establishments that provide bulk meals, they often prepare food for long periods of time, possibly leaving food at ambient temperature for several hours. So it only takes a person infected with salmonella and touches cooked food, within hours the bacteria will multiply exponentially. At that time, the volume of bacteria and toxins will be very high. Therefore, for collective kitchens, the longer the time between completion of processing and use, the greater the risk.
For dangerous bacteria, easy to cause poisoning, can not be detected because the sensory perception is not recognized. Therefore, we need to closely monitor the processing process, from the quality of the food input to the time it is prepared, processed and until the children use it. We have to shorten the time from preparing food to delivering meals to the children.
Assoc DO VAN USE, Dean of School of Public Health School DHo Chi Minh City Medicine and Pharmacy