Food safety finds its scientific footing in Vietnam's markets

Each evening, as the Binh Dien wholesale market in Ho Chi Minh City winds down, SAFEGRO teams and market supervisors begin their hygiene sampling work. They walk through the stalls collecting direct samples from surfaces that come into contact with food, including worktops and tools. They also collect indirect samples from areas that pose a risk of cross-contamination, such as floors and hanging signs. This is not just another inspection. This is science in action.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and FAO are clear: science is the backbone of safe food systems. But for science to matter, it must reach every corner, not only in policy briefs or laboratories but also in markets like Binh Dien and Van Duc where food is handled every day. That’s where SAFEGRO, funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by Alinea International and Guelph University, together with key government partners, is focusing on food safety science.

"SAFEGRO is showing that food safety isn’t an abstract idea. It’s about what happens at your vendor’s stall, in your kitchen, and at your lunch table,” said To Lien Thu, a SAFEGRO food safety expert.

In Ho Chi Minh City, SAFEGRO’s work at the Binh Dien wholesale market, one of Southeast Asia’s largest, brings food safety science into everyday practice.

Following technical training of market staff, over two months, hygiene checks were carried out in major vendor areas. In May, sanitation effectiveness was checked daily; in June it will bechecked three times per week. Sampling followed a structured protocol, using laboratory and quick tests for bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella (ATP, TPC) to identify microbial risks before and after to demonstrate the benefits of cleaning, sanitation, and disinfection.

Beyond testing, SAFEGRO held mini-lab training, showing vendors how to collect samples, swab surfaces, and interpret results. These sessions turned market staff into active food safety stewards.

Previously, monitoring relied on occasional government checks. Now, thanks to SAFEGRO, market managers are taking the lead in monitoring hygiene themselves.

In Hanoi, science is also changing behaviour, one vendor at a time. At Van Duc Market, a bustling retail hub, SAFEGRO trained small traders in practical hygiene, cleaning, and sanitation. Among them was Nguyen Van Nham, a vermicelli maker. He became a local hero of food safety: first to arrive at training, last to leave. He learned the six-step handwashing method, cleaning his stall meticulously, and asked questions about contamination risks.

"I am very grateful for the training,” he said. “The lessons are practical, and the teacher is very dedicated and easy to understand.”

The curriculum taught retailers to store produce at least 10 cm off the ground, avoid using old chemical containers for food, wash hands before and after handling food, clean and sanitise not just their stalls, but their phones, and avoid eating at their selling points.

These may seem simple, but each behaviour is backed by global food safety science, and directly contributes to reducing risks of foodborne illness.

The core of SAFEGRO’s success lies in cultivating a positive food safety culture, a shared responsibility for behaviour changes across the supply chain. Whether through scientific monitoring in Binh Dien or hygiene education in Van Duc, the approach is grounded in empowerment, not enforcement.

This aligns with WHO’s 2025 message: Food safety is not static. It is proactive. It is collaborative. It is built on science. It requires individual responsibility imbedded in a food safety culture

And science, as SAFEGRO shows, is not just about data, it’s about people. Families now eat more confidently. Traders take pride in cleaner practices. Vendors speak the language of microbial risk, often for the first time.

Every step in the food chain is closely connected. If one part doesn’t do well, it can harm not just one person’s health, but the whole community, and even future generations, if harmful substances affect our ability to have healthy children. A strong and lasting food safety culture only happens when everyone takes part, shares responsibility, and understands the science behind safe food in daily life.

As food systems face increasing pressure from climate change, urbanisation, and emerging pathogens, the message of World Food Safety Day 2025 feels prescient: science must not only inform us but prepare us.

In Vietnam, SAFEGRO is making that future real, not with sweeping mandates but with handwashing stations, lab and rapid field kit testing, transparent results, and informed communities.

From Ho Chi Minh City’s wholesale engines to Hanoi’s neighbourhood stalls, food safety science is no longer locked in laboratories. It’s on the ground. It’s in action. And it’s protecting lives.

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