title: Food Safety Perceptions and Practices among Smallholder Pork Value Chain Actors in Hung Yen Province, Vietnam.
abstract: Pork safety is an important public health concern in Vietnam and is a shared responsibility among many actors along the pork value chain. We examined the knowledge, perceptions, and practices regarding food safety, disease, and health risk among selected pork value chain actors (slaughterhouse owners and workers, people living around slaughterhouses, pork sellers, consumers, and veterinary and public health staff) in three districts in Hung Yen Province, Vietnam. We randomly selected 52 pork value chain actors to be surveyed through questionnaires, observation checklists, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. Most slaughterhouse workers acquired knowledge and experience of food safety through "learning by doing" rather than from training by a veterinary or public health professional. Both slaughterhouse worker and pork seller groups had some accurate perceptions about pig diseases and foodborne diseases; however, misperceptions of risk and, especially, of zoonoses were present. Furthermore, while workers and sellers often use cloths to dry the meat and clean equipment, they did not think this was a risk for meat contamination. Moreover, when sellers wear protective equipment, such as gloves, masks, or hats, consumers perceive that the sellers may have health issues they are trying to conceal and so consumers avoid buying from them. The perceived freshness of pork, along with trust in the seller and in the pork production process, were strong indicators of consumer preference. And yet, pork value chain actors tend to trust their own individual food safety practices more, rather than the practices of other actors along the chain. Veterinary and public health staff emphasized the gap between regulations and food safety practices. Education and training on food safety risks and proper handling are priorities, along with integrated and intensive efforts to improve food safety among pork value chain actors.
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research, Hanoi School of Public Health, 138 Giang Vo Street, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Sinh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dang-Xuan
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research, Hanoi School of Public Health, 138 Giang Vo Street, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam.|International Livestock Research Institute, 298 Kim Ma Street, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Hung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nguyen-Viet
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Public Health Center for Asia Pacific, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Mae Hia, Muang, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand.
authors.forename: Tongkorn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meeyam
authors.affiliation: Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Freie Universität Berlin, 10 Brümmerstrasse, Berlin 14195, Germany.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fries
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social Science, Behavior and Health Education, Hanoi School of Public Health, 138 Giang Vo Street, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Huong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nguyen-Thanh
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research, Hanoi School of Public Health, 138 Giang Vo Street, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Phuc
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pham-Duc
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research, Hanoi School of Public Health, 138 Giang Vo Street, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: International Livestock Research Institute, 30709 Naivasha Street, Nairobi 00100, Kenya.
authors.forename: Delia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grace
authors.affiliation: International Livestock Research Institute, 298 Kim Ma Street, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Unger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005506:Food Contamination; D005511:Food Handling; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059022:Food Safety; D006801:Humans; D000069466:Red Meat; D013552:Swine; D014744:Vietnam
keywords: Food safety; Perception; Pig slaughterhouse; Pork; Practice; Vietnam