As of the afternoon of September 14, nearly 100 diners had been poisoned by eating Phuong bread. Of these, 34 were foreign tourists. Quang Nam authorities are waiting for sample analysis from the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang to determine the cause.
Banh mi Phuong started out as a street vendor in the market, but has since become a famous culinary brand in Hoi An, developed over 30 years ago and loved by many domestic and foreign customers.
Phuong's bread was lucky to have "met" world-class chef - Anthony Bourdain (USA).
In 2009, Anthony Bourdain and his TV crew made the show “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” on the Travel Channel. During the nearly 2-minute video of Phuong bread, Anthony Bourdain called it “the best bread in the world.”
After that, a Korean TV channel also chose Phuong bread as the filming location for a culinary discovery program.
The effect of these TV shows has made Phuong bread grow by leaps and bounds, becoming a favorite culinary brand for many tourists. The website Tripadvisor.com, the world's largest travel platform with 490 million monthly users, has nearly 4,000 reviews on the experience and quality of Phuong bread and a rating of 4.5/5 points...
Every day, Phuong bread sells 1,000 - 2,000 loaves, priced from 20,000 - 35,000 VND/loaf. A monthly turnover of 1 billion VND is a "dream" number for many businesses. The development and prosperity of private traders like Phuong bread also contributes significantly to beautifying Hoi An's cuisine, "infusing" the experiential tourism brand of the ancient town.
These values should be cherished, cultivated and expanded. Enterprises, the preventive health sector, the agricultural, forestry and fishery quality management agency and Hoi An authorities should be responsible for tightening quality management, ensuring the best product quality; regularly checking and ensuring food safety is a contribution to helping them protect this world-famous brand.
At least 34 foreigners were poisoned after eating Phuong bread, Hoi An, Quang Nam.
Knowing that food poisoning is inevitable, no one wants it. It is like a traffic accident, it can happen anytime, anywhere, to anyone. But traffic laws also have many strict regulations on speed, technology, vehicles, human behavior in compliance with the law... "The best bread in the world" must strictly comply with regulations on product origin and quality. Safe preservation, processing and use procedures.
The Phuong bread poisoning incident directly harmed 100 diners, of course the first and immediate responsibility lies with the shop owner. But there is also a lack of responsibility and lax management by the authorities, the health sector, tourism and the Hoi An, Quang Nam government.
The health damage to these diners will soon be recovered, but the trust of tourists in Phuong bread in particular, and in Hoi An street food, Vietnam in general, will be reduced.
Cuisine is an important component of the tourism economy, so this incident is a warning bell for the inspection, supervision and management of cuisine, especially specialties serving tourism in famous urban areas and tourist destinations across the country.
