OFFICIAL VAS STATEMENT: FRESH TOMATO AT SUNRISE CAMPUS’S CANTEEN ON 10/5/2019

TP. HCM, May 10^th 2019

On the afternoon of May 10^th, 2019, the Board of Management of the Vietnam Australia International School (VAS) Sunrise Campus received information from the Food Supervisor of Sunrise Campus and parent Vu Thanh Chau's Facebook about the presence of maggot in slided tomatoes in the lunch of the student, Doan Thi K.V., from class 10S4A, Sunrise Campus.

After receiving the information, the Board of Management of VAS and Sunrise Campus have verified and clarified the incident with the catering supplier - The Caterers and have given the following feedback:

1. Right after receiving the notice of student K.V. about the presence of maggot in the sliced tomatoes in her lunch at the Sunrise Campus’s canteen on May 10^th, 2019, the Caterers’ staff at the Sunrise Campus offered a new meal for K.V. and responded to the Food Supervisor of Sunrise Campus and the Superintendent. The Food Supervisor of  Sunrise Campus and the representative of The Caterers have made a record of this incident, traced and verified the origin of this tomato, and inspected the food service process in accordance with VAS regulations on food hygiene and safety.
2. According to the initial verified results, fresh tomatoes are supplied by Nam An Investment, Trade and Services Joint stock Company, which is certified with Food Safety Certification and VietGap certification number TT-13-09-68-0022 and is in the list of food vendors for The Caterers at the VAS Sunrise campus’s canteen. This list has been published to VAS’s parents.
3. Right after receiving the incident, VAS conducted a review of the whole procedure from the stage of importing to preliminary processing and serving of the tomato dish by retrieving camera data in the kitchen area. VAS collected some information as follows:

-           Raw materials had been imported from Nam An Company (Tran Minh Tan Farm).

-           Process of importing and preliminary processing:

• Received quantity of tomato: 07 kg
• Retrieve 3-step records:

• Time of entry: at 4:30 am on May 10, 2019
• Preliminary food processing: from 6:50 to 9:45am, including the steps of soaking and washing before cutting
• Cutting into slices: 10:00am the same day
• Transferring tomatoes to the serving area: 10:45am on the same day

Through the above review process, it is possible that the maggot inside the tomato was not detected at the cutting stage.

 

4. VAS and The Caterers sent samples of tomatoes from the same receiving amount from that day for a food sample test at the Pasteur Institute on the morning after, May 11^th, 2019. As soon as the test result is published, VAS will update this information to the relevant stakeholders.
5. Fresh food (fresh vegetables, fruits) are  fixed ingredients in the daily lunches of students at VAS. According to the initial feedback from the caterers, the presence of a maggot in a fresh tomato may be a seasonal incident. In the rainy season, tomatoes are susceptible to deep maggots inside, but the external state is normal. Therefore, the inspection and processing department find it difficult to detect this problem in every case.
6. At present, in order to prevent this kind of incident, from May 13^th, 2019, VAS will replace the serving of fresh food (tomatoes) with steamed fruits at the salad bar until the school assures that similar seasonal incidents will no longer affect the food safety. Besides this measure, in the coming time, VAS will conduct a review of all processes of inspection, materials processing and serving food at kitchens for students throughout all campuses; as well as enhance the inspection of input sources every day before processing.
7. All VAS canteens have strict inspection procedures for food safety and hygiene every day, from the process of importing, preliminary processing, and from cooking to serving. In addition, VAS also conducts a general inspection every 6 months (2 times in a school year) on food safety and hygiene throughout all campuses. In the latest inspection, on February 28^th, 2019, the canteen of Sunrise Campus obtained a Good Safety Practices Certificate for the Canteen granted by an independent inspection service, the British Standards Institution - BSI Vietnam.

 

Best regards,

VAS Management Board