Health news September 14: Ministry of Health recommends ensuring food safety when supporting people in flood-hit areas
The recent storm No. 3 caused great damage, the storm's circulation caused flash floods and landslides, creating isolated areas. People need support with necessities including food and clean water.
Ministry of Health recommends food to support people in flood-hit areas
Storms and floods are natural disasters that occur every year, causing loss of life and property in the areas where they pass through; the recent storm No. 3 caused great damage, the storm's circulation caused flash floods and landslides, creating isolated areas, and people need support with necessities including food and clean water.
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In addition to the contributions of money and essential goods, a large amount of food has been donated by departments, organizations, charity groups and individuals to flood-hit areas. However, distributing goods and food to people is not simple, it takes time to travel, the roads are difficult, and the weather is rainy and windy, so it is necessary to pay attention to ensuring safe food reaches people in storm and flood areas.
Self-processing, packaging and vacuuming food can help extend the shelf life of food, but there may be a risk of food safety due to unsanitary processing leading to the risk of food contamination, especially anaerobic bacteria contamination (bacteria that grow in an environment lacking air), producing toxins that cause poisoning to users.
One of the anaerobic bacteria that often causes poisoning in canned foods and vacuum-packed foods is Clostridium botulinum, a type of absolutely anaerobic bacteria that forms spores (a form of bacteria that can survive in an unfavorable environment); Clostridium botulinum toxin is only produced in anaerobic environments, is very virulent and has a serious impact on human health, and can even cause death with very small doses.
To ensure food safety to support people in areas affected by natural disasters, storms and floods, the Department of Food Safety, Ministry of Health recommends:
For food relief organizations/individuals:
Prioritize donations and support of prepackaged food with long shelf life and preservation such as: dry food, canned food, sealed packaging such as meat, fish, canned vegetables and fruits, instant noodles, sterilized sausages, bottled water, jarred water... from processing facilities that ensure food safety, have labels and full expiry dates according to regulations;
Support vitamins and digestive enzymes to support the health of children and the elderly in storm and flood areas.
When preparing food yourself and vacuum-packaging it to support people in storm and flood areas, please note:
Choose foods suitable for vacuum packaging such as: dried meat, dried fish, popcorn, rice popcorn, cakes with leaves wrapped in leaves that are thoroughly cooked (for many hours) such as banh chung, banh tec, after removing the cakes, they need to be placed in a clean place, squeezed to drain the water, and let cool before vacuum packaging;
Ensure hygiene requirements, use clean water to process food; when packaging and vacuuming, put a piece of paper with the production date inside the packaging film so that the transporter and user know and arrange appropriate distribution and usage time.
Homemade, vacuum-packed foods should be supported in areas with short transport times to ensure that people can access food aid as soon as possible after preparation.
For food relief distributors:
Package goods carefully to avoid getting soaked in rain or falling, submerged in flood water, mud.
For homemade foods with short shelf life, it is necessary to pay attention to the transportation time to ensure that when the food reaches the recipient, it is not spoiled, rancid, moldy or spoiled.
For food aid users:
It is necessary to check the packaging of food distributed and relief before eating; absolutely do not use expired food, canned food that is swollen, flattened, deformed, rusted, not intact or has an unusual smell or color; Canned food that is not swollen, but when opened makes a "hissing" sound, meaning there is air inside, and has a "strong smell" should not be used to prevent contamination with anaerobic bacteria, especially botulinum toxin.
For foods made by the supporter such as banh chung, banh day, banh tec, etc. that are handmade, self-packaged, and sealed with vacuum-sealed film, you need to observe carefully before using. If there are air bubbles inside the film, the film is bulging, or when opening the film, the food is slimy, moldy, has an unusual smell or taste, absolutely do not use it. These foods have a short shelf life, within a few days, so you need to know the production and packaging date.
For the Government and local authorities affected by storms and floods:
It is necessary to arrange forces to organize the reception and distribution of relief food as quickly as possible to the people;
Maintain propaganda so that people can practice food hygiene as best as possible;
Proactively stock up on medicines, chemicals, vehicles, human resources, and plans to proactively handle and remedy food poisoning or food-related illnesses.
Hanoi : Simultaneously launching a general environmental cleaning campaign
Hanoi City has just organized a ceremony to launch a campaign for the entire population to participate in general environmental sanitation and overcome the consequences of storm No. 3. In her opening speech, Chairwoman of the City Fatherland Front Committee Nguyen Lan Huong said that in recent days, storm No. 3 and its circulation have caused damage to infrastructure, trees, and the environment, causing flooding in some localities, greatly affecting the lives of people in the capital.
With the spirit of "putting people's safety first", the entire city's political system has actively participated in and proactively responded to the storm, minimizing property damage, ensuring safety and caring for people's lives, and performing well in social security work.
Promoting the tradition of solidarity, mutual love, "Love others as you love yourself", "Help each other", the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the City promptly issued an appeal to the people of the Capital to share and help spiritually and materially, contributing together with Party committees and authorities at all levels to quickly restore production and ensure people's lives.
As of September 13, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the City has received 56.372 billion VND in support from agencies, units, businesses and individuals; promptly supported the people of the Capital with 15.7 billion VND and many necessities to help people stabilize their lives; at the same time, transferred 61.5 billion VND to support the damaged northern provinces.
People in the city have had many practical activities to share with people in flood-affected areas, such as: wrapping banh chung together, cooking rice, delivering bread, food, supporting accommodation, parking, etc.
To ensure the stability of people's lives, with the consent of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the City organized a ceremony to launch the campaign to clean up the environment and overcome the consequences of storm No. 3; calling on agencies, units, member organizations, households and people to participate in cleaning up, ensuring environmental sanitation, clearing broken and fallen trees; clearing sewers, ditches, and canals; collecting waste, spraying disinfectants to prevent epidemics.
At the launching ceremony, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the City requested the City People's Committee to direct departments, branches, People's Committees of districts, towns and cities to coordinate in implementing environmental sanitation activities.
The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels coordinated with member organizations to propagate and mobilize union members, association members and people to participate in general environmental sanitation at agencies, units, schools and residential areas in the city on September 14-15.
Religious organizations in the capital promote the role of religion in environmental protection, responding to climate change, propagating and mobilizing believers, followers, Buddhists, and religious people to participate in cleaning up places of worship and residences; and working with local people to clean up village roads, alleys, residential areas, and neighborhoods.
Speaking in response and implementing the task, Chairman of Ba Dinh District People's Committee Ta Nam Chien said that in order to effectively implement the general environmental sanitation work and overcome the consequences of storm No. 3, working groups from 1 to 14 will carry out support tasks in 14 wards in the district.
The teams closely coordinated with the leaders of the wards, comrades in the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee assigned to be in charge of the wards to mobilize the people and the entire political system of the ward to join hands in organizing a general environmental cleaning, quickly overcoming the damage of storm No. 3, ensuring a green - clean - beautiful environment, urban aesthetics, traffic safety...
Working group No. 1, carrying out the task of general environmental sanitation in Quan Thanh ward, first carried out general environmental sanitation in Van Xuan flower garden area, then deployed throughout the ward.
At the program, the leaders of Hanoi City encouraged and launched a movement for the entire population to participate in general environmental sanitation in the Van Xuan Flower Garden area (Quan Thanh ward, Ba Dinh district) and the area of the ancient French villa at 49 Tran Hung Dao (Hoan Kiem district)...
Five people poisoned after eating wild mushrooms
Ha Tinh General Hospital said it had just received, provided emergency care, and treated four patients suspected of poisoning from eating mushrooms picked from the forest.
After examination, doctors determined that all four patients showed signs of food poisoning, so they were treated according to the detoxification regimen. As of September 13, all four patients were stable and are continuing to be monitored and treated.
According to Mr. Dinh Quoc Hai (one of the four poisoned patients), on the evening of September 12, his family invited three people from the same village to dinner. The meal included a dish of stir-fried mushrooms that he and his wife had cooked while they were in the forest.
About 30 minutes after eating, Mr. Hai and his wife and 3 villagers all had symptoms of stomachache, vomiting and continuous diarrhea.
Suspecting poisoning, Mr. Hai and his wife and two others were immediately taken to the provincial general hospital by relatives for emergency treatment. The other person had milder symptoms, so medical staff came to guide him to self-treat at home.
Doctor Tran Tien, Deputy Head of the Emergency Department of Poison Control at Ha Tinh General Hospital, warned that some types of mushrooms can cause very serious poisoning such as nerve paralysis, liver and kidney damage, coma and death.
Therefore, people should only eat cultivated mushrooms, knowing for sure the species and origin of the mushrooms, ensuring that they can be eaten without being poisoned. Absolutely do not eat strange or wild mushrooms.
People should also not try to eat mushrooms, and should not pick young mushrooms that have not yet opened their caps because they have not yet revealed all their structural characteristics, making it difficult to identify poisonous mushrooms.
In addition, edible mushrooms should be eaten fresh. If they are left to spoil or become crushed, new toxins can form, causing poisoning. If you suspect poisoning from eating mushrooms, you should go to the nearest medical facility immediately for timely treatment by a doctor.
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