Is pork safe? (PigRISK, 2012–17)
Methods
• Farm to fork approach
• Risk assessment & cost of illness studies
• Intervention trials
 Participatory diagnostic and formative research
(e.g. behavioral nudges)
• Capacity building
Contact
F.Unger@cgiar.org
ILRI Vietnam
This document is licensed for use under the Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International Licence. September 2019.
Problems/issues
• Pork is most widely consumed meat in Vietnam:
29.1Kg/theperson
• Around 80% of pigs
 comes from very small or small farms
 processed in small slaughtering
 marketed through traditional retail addressing
preferences for fresh ‘warm’ pork
• Food safety among the most pressing issues for
consumers in Vietnam
• Food exports relatively well managed but deficits in
domestic markets
• Public most concerned on chemical hazards but
major health risk related to microbiological hazards
• 1–2 person out of 10 (17%) estimated to suffer
Salmonella caused food borne diseaes annually
• Estimated hospitalisation costs of FBD:
• 0.4% of GDP
Safer pork for Vietnamese consumers
Safe PORK project (2017–22)
Focus on cheap, simple and scalable solutions to improve
pork safety in partnership with private sector
Results
Assessment:
Poor food safety outcomes (Salmonella) and hygienic
deficits across all retail types
At slaughter: Using of slaughter grid
Supporting activities:
Laboratory trials
Behavioural nudges
Selected solutions
At slaughter:
Introduction of slaughter grid to avoid floor slaughter
Use of portable ozonised water for disinfection
At retail:
Tailored package: antimicrobial cutting boards, cotton cloths,
frequent W&D and training
Supporting activities:
Increasing transparency in food systems
Laboratory trials
Behavioural nudges
Before During After
The improvement in hygiene (using grid versus floor) was
shown by lower faecal bacteria (p = 0.002) on the grid
carcass surface than the control.
From left: Pig farm, butcher and retail in Vietnam, 2017.
Clockwise: Ozone efficacy, Aqua 21; Grid, Sinh 2016; Soc Son Farm, Safe
Pork 2019.
Test of antimicrobial
efficacy of cutting boards
Impact
Food safety risk management Vietnam
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/vietnam/publication/food-safety-risk-
management-in-vietnam-challenges-and-opportunities
New World Bank initiative for two urban centers of Vietnam
Source ILRI/RVC 2019
Source ILRI SafePORK 2019
Slaughterhouse, Hung Yen with intervention, 2016–2018
Key pork value chains in Vietnam. Source: Research brief ILRI 2019.
Acknowledgment: SafePORK team members, local
authorities and value chain actors.
Retailers consider the
effect of colour on
salience differently:
Blue-clean & red-dirty