As usual, around 7 p.m. every day, a small stall is set up right on the sidewalk of Nguyễn Chí Thanh Street in Điện Biên Phủ ward. Sausages, fried snacks, doughnuts, sweet potato fritters, and more are displayed across a plastic table. Next to it, a pan of boiling oil is placed dangerously close to the road’s edge. Smoke, the smell of oil, and street dust swirl together in the wind, seeping into trays of food that have yet to be covered.

The owner of this stall said that every evening dozens of customers stop by to eat on-site or buy takeout, most of them students and young people. When asked about compliance with food safety requirements, the vendor just smiled and waved it off, saying: “Selling just a few things like this doesn’t need paperwork. Besides, nothing has ever happened so far…”

This is not only the case on Nguyễn Chí Thanh Street. Many other street food stalls operate in the same manner. Food is cooked and sold right by the roadside. Cooking and storage equipment is basic, poorly covered, or not covered at all; some sellers handle cash while also cutting and serving food without gloves, sometimes without even washing their hands.

While vendors fail to follow regulations, consumers also tend to overlook hygiene factors out of habit and complacency. Lê Thị Hương, a resident of Residential Group No.23, Điện Biên Phủ ward, shared: “I am busy with work and don’t have time to prepare food at home in the mornings. I know that ready-to-eat foods, especially street food, may pose food safety risks and are not good for health, but since I haven’t faced any problems yet, I still keep eating them.”

Street food brings convenience to consumers, especially busy people who have little time to cook. However, this food source carries a high risk of food poisoning because most vendors lack knowledge about food hygiene and safety. Moreover, street environments are heavily polluted due to constant traffic. Many stalls do not meet sanitation requirements such as access to clean water or proper storage facilities. Improper or careless covering of food makes it prone to cross-contamination or direct exposure to unhygienic conditions.

Điện Biên Phủ ward and Mường Thanh ward are densely populated areas with numerous eateries and around 500 street food businesses. According to the management system, each year the Food Safety Inspection and Monitoring Committees of the wards coordinate with relevant authorities to check these businesses and require vendors to sign commitments ensuring food safety. However, due to a shortage of personnel and equipment, inspections are not carried out regularly or comprehensively.

A representative of the Food Safety Inspection and Monitoring Board of Điện Biên Phủ ward explained that the heavy workload with limited staff means inspections are mostly focused on peak periods such as festivals, holidays, or the Action Month for Food Safety. Outside of those times, checks are only conducted upon receiving public complaints or detecting obvious violations. Many small, mobile vendors change locations frequently, making it difficult to track and handle thoroughly.

In reality, consuming ready-to-eat food has become a daily habit for many residents. Along with the widespread presence of eateries, prepared foods at markets and budget restaurants along urban streets, mobile stalls selling bread, roasted chicken, roasted pork, sausages, and more are multiplying every day. However, with widespread media reports about the use of preservatives and additives of unclear origin in food processing, as well as cases of food poisoning and hygiene violations nationwide, people need to raise their awareness to protect their own health and their families’.

In addition to inspections and monitoring by relevant authorities, every individual should proactively choose safe and reliable food sources, limit the consumption of roadside and street food, and especially avoid eating in unsanitary places to effectively prevent infectious diseases.