Not only in the central region, but also in the Mekong Delta and the north, and even in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, are many restaurants still lacking food safety and hygiene.

Early this month 94 people suffered food poisoned after eating bread at a shop on Do Chieu Street in HCMC's Vung Tau Ward.

A few days before that 72 people were hospitalized with suspected food poisoning after eating bread at Hong Ngoc in Dong Thap Province in the Mekong Delta. The same shop had caused food poisoning for 148 people two years earlier.

Numerous times I have seen people dipping their fingers into the broth while serving bowls of vermicelli soup.

I used to blame my sensitive stomach, but after finishing a course in food production, I learned that the main cause is the way food is processed and preserved.

Since then I've been more selective when eating out, and I rarely had problems with my "sensitive stomach" any more.

To improve food safety and hygiene, in addition to legal frameworks and strict management procedures by authorities, it is crucial to start with awareness in everyone's part, both consumers and food processors.

Grilled skewers at a street food stall in Hanoi. Photo by Tai Hoang

But before discussing solutions, let us consider the statistics.

In the first 11 months of 2024 Vietnam recorded 131 food poisoning incidents resulting in 21 deaths and nearly 4,800 people being hospitalized.

Between 2019 to 2024 there were a total of 610 cases that affected over 15,000 people and killed 126, mainly due to bacteria and chemicals in food.

The price to pay is not just health.

The state spends over VND3 billion annually on treatment, testing and investigation of food poisoning cases, not to mention personal medical expenses.

For low-income people, a single severe food poisoning incident is enough to plunge an entire family into hardship.

This is a predictable consequence of a food safety and hygiene system that has not been given due importance by everyone from cooks to consumers.

Singapore, with eating habits and customs quite similar to that of Vietnam, also has a tradition of street food that prioritizes delicious meals (over hygiene). But they have successfully changed people's perceptions in this regard.

This ought to be a suitable model for Vietnam to emulate.

Singapore in the early 20th century was not much different from Vietnam today.

Street vendors set up stalls right on the sidewalks, keeping food uncovered and using untreated broth.

A report from the British colonial era described Singaporean street food as "extremely susceptible to contamination." In 1957 local newspapers even documented scenes of swarms of flies, reused chopsticks and spoons, and spoiled food being openly sold.

They changed that with an entire system, implemented simultaneously and persistently over decades.

Singapore did not just enact laws; it also built the accompanying infrastructure: covered markets, clean water and a drainage system dating back to the 1920s.

By 1986 over 18,000 street vendors had been relocated to 110 hawker centers nationwide, bringing all food sales into a fixed, registered space that could be inspected at any time.

Each establishment, after inspection, was rated A, B, C, or D and was required to display this information publicly at the ordering area so that buyers could make informed choices.

After 2020 this system continued to be improved, switching to evaluating accumulated violation records instead of just the latest inspection.

Singapore launched its "Handwashing" communication campaign in the 1970s, repeating it until it became a habit throughout society. Each campaign targeted specific behaviors, implemented rigorously and patiently over decades, with clearly measurable results.

Returning trays after meals at hawker centers is one example. The National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore had long advocated for this, but the results were unsatisfactory.

In 2021 it changed its approach by deploying on-site supervisors, posting signs everywhere, adding tray-returning points, and, more importantly, starting to impose fines from September 2021, with a S$300 (US$234.31) penalty for a second offense.

The rate of people returning their trays increased from 65% to 91% in just over a year, according to the NEA.

This was not because Singaporeans suddenly became more aware, but because the system was designed to be strict enough to change actual behavior.

Vietnam's problem is the lack of strict enforcement and oversight. Singapore has built a system and consistently operated and improved it for nearly 80 years.

And beyond laws and infrastructure, another important goal is to change how people think about their meals. Consumers need information to make informed choices, to understand the trade-offs they are making, and to refuse meals that lack food safety and hygiene.

Sellers understand that hygiene is no longer just their concern.

When both sides understand this, no further reminders are needed.

The phrase "dirty but delicious" sounds like a funny story. But hundreds of people in the recent mass poisoning cases did not have the chance to tell that story.

Singapore took nearly 80 years. But they started with individual awareness day after day.

Vietnam can start today. The question is simply: do each of us want to make that start?