| Summary: | In Vietnam, pork makes up 75% of meat consumed, with its production delivering substantial benefits to
the smallholders who supply 84% of the market. However, pork contains high levels of pathogens, an issue
of growing concern among the public, and policy makers alike. To respond to these concerns, we
developed a rapid integrated assessment tool with partners to assess food safety and zoonosis related to
pork value chain and tested it in different countries. This study presents the results of this rapid assessment
of food safety and zoonosis from a consumer perspective and with analysis of biological samples.
Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were conducted in Hung Yen and Nghe An provinces for regular pork
consumers and pregnant women or mothers of young children. In each province, three districts were
selected, and one commune selected per district. Six FGD of 7 persons, stratified by income, were
conducted in each commune, giving a total of 36 FGD and 252 participants in two provinces. The FGDs
focused on food safety (hazard and risk), nutrition, and social and gender determinants of health and
nutrition. Eighty pork samples were also collected in two province to rapidly capture the quality of pork
from slaughterhouse and market through the measurement Total bacterial count (TBC), coliform, Water
Holding Capacity (WHC) and pH.
Participants were housewifes who often buy food for their family and are in charge of cooking pork. Pork is
the main meat eaten daily in both provinces, representing 50-60% of total ASF consumption. Meat was
bough mainly from the informal market and quickly prepared, cooked and consumed. People had high
trust in pork safety and quality and rarely attributed health issues to pork consumption. Raw pork is rarely
eaten except for fermented pork (nemchua) which is occasionally consumed. The main concern was
growth promoters, pork refresher (chemicals used to make not fresh pork appear fresh) as well as diseased
pork. There was little knowledge of zoonoses. The pork portions perceived as rich in nutrients were used
young children and special care was given to their preparation, such as cooking well or making into soup.
The TCB in swab samples at slaughterhouse varied from 10,500 to 3,410,000 CFU/400cm2
and coliform from
20 to 1.1*104 MPN/400cm2
.Pork samples collected in the market had TCB varying from 4.3*104 to 3280*104
CFU/g and coliform 40 to 1.1*104 MPN/g Pork pH after 1, 4 and 6h after slaughtering was in the range of
6.07-7.00), 5.35-6.95 5.15-6.02 respectively. The drip loss test showed that the water loss was from 1.26 to
5.92% after 48h.
In conclusion, this rapid assessment shows that meat is a main animal food source in Vietnam and women
are responsible for buying and preparing pork. While the trust in pork quality was high, microbial and
physio-chemical analyses suggest further studies to address consumers’ concern on chemical
contamination.
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