Business and public health impacts of a food safety rating program among pork vendors in Vietnam

Ambler, K., Murphy, M., Sinh Dang-Xuan, Hoffmann, V., Trang Le-Thi-Huyen, Unger, F., Vuong Bui-Nghia, Huong Pham-Thi, Duy Nguyen-Quang and Hung Nguyen-Viet. 2024. Business and public health impacts of a food safety rating program among pork vendors in Vietnam. Poster presented at the One Health Scientific Conference: International practices and lessons learned for Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam, 16 October 2024. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.

Ninety percent of pork, the most widely consumed meat in Vietnam, is sold through wet markets, where hazards are pervasive.

Adherence to basic food and hand hygiene practices among vendors has the potential to reduce contamination at low cost, but a lack of either market incentives or regulatory enforcement of food safety standards implies weak incentives to adopt.

Voluntary programs to improve food safety in Vietnam has been limited, and there is a dearth of evidence regarding the impact of such initiatives on food safety outcomes.

Results suggest potential for voluntary rating interventions to harness consumer demand for food safety. However, lack of significant impact on contamination of pork indicates a need to identify more effective technologies to control food safety hazards in this context.