Progress has been made in recent years to improve food hygiene andsafety in the country, but more needed to be done to reduce the numberof food poisoning cases, experts have said.

"Althoughinitial results have been positive, the country should do more toimprove safety and hygiene standards since the number of food poisoningcases is still high, about 10,000 cases a year," said Nguyen ThanhPhong, deputy director of the Ministry of Health's Food Safety andHygiene Department.

Vietnam 's agricultural produce isexported to 160 countries and territories, including markets such as theUS , Japan and France where have strict standards.

In the domestic market, many enterprises now use advanced managementmodel such as HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) and thosewhich are certified by ISO (International Organization forStandardization) to process food.

But as much as 85percent of food processing establishments were small to medium. Manyused outdated production technology, he said.

The upcominginternational food processing machinery exposition (Foodtex Vietnam),to be held in HCM City on March 22-24 next year, was expected to offeropportunities for local food-processing companies to improve productiontechnology, Phong said at a press conference held in HCM City on Oct.26.

Foodtex Vietnam will run alongside theinternational exhibition on livestock, dairy, meat-processing andaquaculture (ILDEX Vietnam) at the Sai Gon Exhibition and ConventionCenter in District 7.

The event would create a platformfor participants to exchange information and seek new business partnersas well as discuss current issues in the food industry, said LaddaMongkolchaivivat, general manager of NCC Exhibition Organising Co Ltd./.