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No violator of food safety regulations has been punished in a recent wave of allegations against suspected dirty producers due to a lack of hard evidence, an official said.

People are accumulating poisons in their bodies by eating unhygienic food every day, said representative Nguyen Viet Hung said.

Representative Pham Thi Thanh said both violators and local governments needed to be punished for any violations of food hygiene and safety laws.

But according to Binh, it is difficult for local agencies to deal with food hygiene and safety problems due to a shortage of specialized officials.

The city, in fact, has only four food inspectors, the vice chairman said.

Meanwhile, just around 60 percent of food businesses in the southern hub have been granted food hygiene and safety certifications so far, Binh said, stressing that some of the certified businesses were still failing to comply with regulations properly.

Street food is out of the agencies’ control at the moment, Binh said.

Reported by Viet Chien