Risk Assessment: The Core Foundation of Food Safety Assurance

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World Food Safety Day (Source: FDA)

Food safety is currently an issue of significant public concern, making the proactive prevention and control of hazards from production to consumption an urgent necessity. In this context, risk assessment plays a vital role as an inseparable foundation of any modern food safety management system. Conducting chemical and microbiological risk assessment studies is considered the most effective and practical tool for providing robust scientific evidence, directly serving risk-based food safety management.

To meet the demands of science-based state management, VFSA, under the National Institute for Food Control (NIFC), was established in July 2024 by the Ministry of Health. This marked a significant milestone toward a more scientific and highly coordinated approach. Since its inception, VFSA has made continuous efforts and affirmed its core role in applying risk assessment methodologies, establishing a practical scientific foundation for food safety management in Vietnam.

Recently, VFSA and NIFC have organized a series of in-depth scientific activities on both national and international scales. From November 24 to 28, 2025, the workshop on Advanced food safety quantitative risk assessment was held under the support of the Safe Food for Growth Project (SAFEGRO - Canada). The workshop aimed to equip over 30 Vietnamese experts with advanced tools and methodologies, thereby promoting an evidence-based food safety management system. Furthermore, in December 2025, the international conference on the Application of chemical and microbiological risk assessment for food safety was successfully held in Hanoi. The event shared advanced methodologies, such as probabilistic modeling, with the attendance of over 150 reputable scientists, managers, experts, and young scientists from across the country. Following this event, in January 2026, a workshop on Risk assessment of certain harmful substances generated during food processing in Vietnam (part of a Ministry of Health scientific and technological project) was organized in Hue. This workshop introduced new approaches and solutions to control exposure risks for the public.

Workshop on Advanced Food Safety Quantitative Risk Assessment

International Workshop on Application of Chemical and Microbiological Risk Assessment for Food Safety

Workshop on Risk assessment of substances generated during food processing in Vietnam

In February 2026, VFSA continued to make its mark at the Consultation workshop on Sharing food safety risk assessment results, organized by the Safe Food for Growth (SAFEGRO) Project. Key studies were presented, including a risk assessment report on histamine poisoning from fish in Nghe An and the risk of Salmonella contamination in the chicken supply chain in Hanoi. In March 2026, a training workshop on Foodborne outbreak investigation and food hygiene monitoring practice was held in Ninh Binh, in collaboration with the Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office (IPAAO - Canada) and Kikkoman Biochemifa Company (Japan). The event provided in-depth training on the Foodborne Illness Outbreak Response Protocol (FIORP) and the ATP hygiene monitoring method, contributing to capacity building for officials directly involved in inspection, monitoring, and incident investigation. Most recently, VFSA participated and presented at the workshop on Applying digital transformation in food safety risk management: from research to production and business practices, organized by the Vietnam Food Safety Science and Technology Association in collaboration with NIFC. VFSA's presentation provided the trend of applying modern analytical technologies, digitizing testing data, and data exploitation for monitoring, early warning, and assessment of food safety risks in the direction of science, accuracy, and modernity

Workshop on Consultation and sharing of food safety risk assessment results

Training workshop on Foodborne outbreak investigation and Food hygiene monitoring practices

Workshop on Applying digital transformation in food safety risk management: from research to production and business practices

The relentless efforts in research, surveillance, and food safety risk assessment over the recent period serve as a solid foundation for larger-scale scientific forums in the future. Notably, these research outcomes and advanced approaches will be further disseminated and discussed extensively at the upcoming International Food Control Conference 2026 (FCC2026), with “Smart Food Safety Control toward International Harmonization” designated as a central theme. contributing to shaping a strategic vision for a safe and sustainable food system in Vietnam that aligns with international standards. The FCC 2026 will take place in Hanoi from October 15-16, 2026. NIFC would love to invite domestic and international scientists, lecturers, researchers, and writers to attend the conference. The information about the conference is updated on the website https://nifc.gov.vn/fcc/gioi-thieu-chung-fcc-2026.

Written by: Nguyen Tuan Thanh, Vietnam Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment