The 2027 edition of the International Symposium on the Epidemiology and Control of Biological, Chemical and Physical Hazards in Pigs and Pork, or Safe Pork, will be held in Vietnam following successful bidding by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners at this year’s conference.

A One Health approach for improved food safety, food security and sustainable food systems was explored by the 4th Global Conference of the Sustainable Food System Programme (SFSP) of the One Planet Network on 26 April 2023. About 40 delegates from 15 countries came to visit the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)-led One Health field site in Thai Nguyen Province, north of Vietnam.

A recent study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Hanoi University of Public Health shows that Vietnamese consumers are willing to pay a premium for upgraded fresh pork. The ‘Impact of perception and assessment of consumers on willingness to pay for upgraded fresh pork: An experimental study in Vietnam,’ sheds light on the importance of food safety and consumer perception in the pork industry.

The six-year ‘Market-based approaches to improving the safety of pork in Vietnam’ project (SafePORK) concluded with a closing workshop on 28 March 2023 in Hanoi, Vietnam. At the workshop, the SafePORK team shared the key findings of the project including cost-effective and practical ways of making pork safer along the Vietnamese smallholder pork value chain. The team also discussed ways to scale out the project’s results.

On the occasion of World Food Safety Day (June 7), Việt Nam News reporter Khánh Dương spoke to Dr Fred Unger, a senior scientist and regional representative of International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) East and Southeast Asia, a CGIAR centre, about ensuring food safety along the pork value chain from the farm to the dining table

MARD Minister Le Minh Hoan stated that there have been numerous factors preventing Vietnamese agriculture from focusing on the most fundamental aspect, soil nutrients.