Over the past time, authorities in Da Nang have been taking measures to promote the traceability of products at wet markets as a way to meet consumer demand for clean, safe food.

Illustrative image (Photo: Internet)

The move is part of the first phase of the ‘Food traceability’ project under the 'Building a Smart City' project during the 2018-2025 period with a vision to 2030, aiming at helping people conduct farm-to-fork traceability.

The Da Nang Food Safety Management Board has recently worked with the Son Tra District’s Market Management Board to organise a training course on traceability for more than 100 small traders at the An Hai Bac Market. These small traders are trading in meats, ‘nem chua’ (fermented pork), ‘cha bo’ (beef paste), drinks and food, vegetables, tubers and seafood.

According to Mr. Pham Tan Thanh, Head of the Market Management Board of Son Tra District, the course provides practical support for the locality to realise its goal of ensuring food safety at wet markets.

“In addition to upgrading facilities and classifying food business areas to avoid cross-contamination, relevant units have been focusing on raising awareness about ensuring food safety among small traders. It is necessary to promote food traceability to classify and clearly identify the origin and quality of food, and to create safety and confidence for consumers" Mr. Thanh added.

According to the plan, from April to August, the city’s Food Safety Management Board will offer training courses on food traceability to more than 700 food traders at such wet markets as Dong Da in Hai Chau District, An Hai Bac in Son Tra District, Hoa Khanh in Lien Chieu District, Phu Loc in Thanh Khe District, Cam Le in Cam Le District, Non Nuoc in Ngu Hanh Son District, and Tuy Loan in Hoa Vang District.

According to the assessment, wet markets are the main food consumption places of people, and sources of goods are imported into the market from many different sources.

It is necessary for locals and customers to know origins of products and the transparency of products’ information. To do this, small businesses need to clearly understand food safety and the criteria for evaluating markets, as well as deploy the ‘Da Nang City Food’ app.

This application helps users look up product traceability, evaluate food quality, vote on services, and warn or report potential food safety incidents to authorities through the management system.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Hai, the Head of the Municipal Food Safety Management Board, said that food traceability is a necessary and indispensable in the current context. Traditional markets are the main food supply channels for people, so the origin of food needs to be transparent and clear to protect consumers' health in a sustainable way, he added.

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG - Translating by M.DUNG