Fewer Vietnamese die of food poisoning in first 7 months

SOURCE: Xinhua General News Service via vnnews-l
DATE: August 3, 2007 Friday 3:00 AM EST
LENGTH: 125 words
HEADLINE: Fewer Vietnamese die of food poisoning in first 7 months

Vietnam reported 25 deaths from food poisoning in the first seven months of this year, down 48 percent over the same period last year, local newspaper Vietnam Economic Times reported Friday.

Between January and July, 3,140 people suffered from food poisoning, up 6.1 percent, the paper quoted Nguyen Thanh Phong, vice head of the Department of Food Hygiene and Safety under the Heath Ministry as saying.

Every year, 8 million people in Vietnam suffer from poisoning or diarrhea due to unhygienic or substandard food, according to the World Health Organization.

A total of 23,201 people in Vietnam were reported to have experienced food poisoning in the 2001-2005 period, of whom 265 died, according to the Ministry's statistics