Students and teachers got food poisoning in Thma Puok district of Banteay Meanchey province in 2020. POLICE
Out of a total of more than 1,500 cases in the past five years, at least 82 people died from consuming dangerous food or alcohol, according to a recently released report by the Ministry of Health. Alcohol accounted for the majority of those who passed away.
“In all of the confirmed cases, samples were taken for analysis at the National Centre for Health Experiments,” said the ministry.
After a tragic series of alcohol poisonings in 2020 and 2021, the Ministry organised training courses and implemented standard guidelines and procedures for alcohol production, including analysis of the methanol content. Officials from the capital and provincial health departments and development partners took part in the training, as well as staff members of the Office of Food Safety.
The Ministry also ran risk assessment and food inspection workshops for the provincial health departments.
In the five-year summary, a total of 1,534 cases of poisoning were reported, with 818 serious illnesses and 82 deaths.
According to a report by the Consumer Protection Competition and Fraud Repression Directorate-General (CCF) of the Ministry of Commerce, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, up to 70 people died from alcohol poisoning.
It recorded 22 deaths in 2020, in Banteay Meanchey and Kampong Chhnang provinces.
The first half of 2021 saw 41 people lost to alcohol, in Kandal, Kampot, Pursat and Prey Veng provinces.
After drinking home-made wine in July 2021, 10 people died in Kampot and another three passed away in Kandal.
King Norodom Sihamoni signed a new food safety law into being in June 2022.
Comprising 11 chapters and 43 articles, the law applies to the management of food quality and safety. It covers all stages of the food production chain, including imports, and food businesses in the Kingdom, and is aimed at protecting the health of consumers.
At the closing ceremony of the health ministry’s recent annual planning meeting – where the five-year report was released – Prime Minister Hun Sen requested that all relevant institutions enhance food safety education among the public, saying the burden placed on the economy and the health system because of unsafe food is almost entirely avoidable.
