French experts exchange experiences "to have a clean food source" at Vietnam Foodexpo 2017

At the seminar "Food Taste, Quality and Safety: Sharing the expectations of France and Vietnam" was held on November 15^th  within the framework of the Vietnam International Food Industry Exhibition (Vietnam Foodexpo 2017), France's food industry experts shared their insights and experiences on the changes in French and Vietnamese consumers' expectations as well as feedbacks on food quality and food safety standards to ensure better information for consumers.

Through the presentations by French and Vietnamese food experts, representatives of agencies, researchers and companies, the seminar considered the importance of culinary and food culture in both countries; explained similarities when observing consumer perceptions, expectations, and behaviors; simultaneously focused on the quality and safety of food products which should be ensured to provide to consumers.

Coming to Vietnam Foodexpo this year as an honorary country, France expressed its goodwill to exchange with Vietnamese partners the French experience "to have clean food source, not only for now but also for future, "said Mr. Bruno Dupont, President of the French Fruit and Vegetables Association.

Mr. Alexandre Bouchot - Agricultural Counselor of the French Embassy to Vietnam

Mr. Alexandre Bouchot, Agricultural Counselor of the French Embassy to Vietnam, said that “each manufacturer in France is responsible for their products. In addition, before being distributed to small markets food must also be distributed through a large wholesale market, where strict inspection process is done to ensure food quality before they can be provided to consumers”.

France also attaches great importance to solving food crisis. For instance, France mobilized the entire food safety management system to investigate and timely resolve the impacts of the Fipronil pesticide incident in July of this year, said Mr Alexandre Bouchot.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food is also releasing official press releases on the government website to bring exact information to the public, avoiding panic in the public.

Each year, France spends 350 million euros on food safety inspections to oversee more than 500,000 farms, more than 400,000 processing, distribution units and restaurants; with more than 75,000 food safety inspections, 30,000 inspections of livestock farms and 6,900 inspections of the use of phytosanitary products.