Food safety risk assessment in Vietnam - Current situation and way forward

Risk assessment is an important scientific step in risk-based food safety (FS) management that has been applied in many countries. In Vietnam, despite being regulated by law, risk assessment activities have not been widely implemented due to inadequate attention and limited resources, which reduces its roles in FS management. Several challenges of FS risk assessment in Vietnam are related to institutional organizations, data management, human resources, and the characteristics of the food supply chain. This article aims to review the progress of risk assessment activities in Vietnam. Different risk assessments have been conducted for various chemical hazards such as pesticides, mycotoxins, preservatives, heavy metals, and environmental residuals, whereas fewer risk assessments have been implemented for microbial hazards, which were mainly focused on common food poisoning pathogens, like Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, and E. coli. This article also analyzes risk assessment models from countries and regions such as China, Japan, the United States, Europe, and ASEAN in order to identify the issues and challenges in Vietnam. Based on the review and analysis, we recommend that Vietnam take action to implement risk assessment activities as a tool for effective FS management.