Over 200 suffer suspected food poisoning after eating ‘banh mi’ in southern Vietnam

More than 200 people have been hospitalized for suspected food poisoning after consuming banh mi from an establishment in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, southern Vietnam, local health authorities reported. 

From morning until evening on Wednesday, Vung Tau Hospital received and treated a total 170 patients who suffered food poisoning after eating banh mi – Vietnamese baguette typically filled with cold meats, pâté, and vegetables – at C.B., a bakery located on Nguyen An Ninh Street in the city’s Ward 7.

In addition, 35 other patients were taken to Vung Tau’s Vietsovpetro Medical Center during the day for treatment after eating banh mi from the same bakery, bringing the total number of cases of suspected food poisoning to 205, the municipal Department of Health said. 

As of 10:00 pm on Wednesday, after 53 patients with mild poisoning symptoms had been discharged from Vung Tau Hospital, the remaining 117 victims continued staying there for further treatment, doctors said.

All the affected patients exhibited the same symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue.

C.B. has been temporarily shut down pending the results of the investigation, and health workers have taken samples of banh mi and other foodstuffs from the establishment for testing.

Inspectors visited C.B. on Tuesday morning, but the owner failed to provide the necessary paperwork, including documents verifying the origin of the ingredients.

Authorities, including police and related agencies, are now working to trace the sources of C.B.’s bread, pork, pork roll, and other ingredients.

N.T.M.T., the owner of C.B., told news site Vietnamnet that she was shocked and saddened by the incident, and that she would like to extend her sincere apologies to all of the victims. 

“I went to the hospital to visit the patients and paid part of their treatment costs. I am ready to support them even though a conclusion about the incident has yet to be made by authorities,” T. said, admitting that her husband had also experienced abdomen pain after eating banh mi from the establishment on Tuesday.

T. said her family has been selling banh mi and xoi (sticky rice) for over 40 years.

Every day, they buy their ingredients fresh from a local market.

“The bakery is the source of our family’s livelihood, so we would never purposely do anything inappropriate. We only sell to customers what we would eat ourselves. This is an unfortunate incident, and I apologize to all those affected,” the owner shared.

In recent times, many food poisoning cases due to banh mi have occurred in Vietnam.

The latest case happened in August, with 149 people diagnosed with food poisoning after eating banh mi from Hong Ngoc 12 bakery in southern Dong Thap Province.

In May, 568 individuals were poisoned by banh mi from Bang, an establishment in Long Khanh City, Dong Nai Province, also in the southern region. One of the victims, a five-year-old boy, died a month later.

In September 2023, a banh mi poisoning case involving 313 victims, including 103 foreigners, was caused by Banh Mi Phuong, a popular bakery in Hoi An, a tourist city in central Quang Nam Province.

By Vinh Tho & Dong Ha – Tuoi Tre News – November 28, 2024