Video: Five keys to safer pork in Cambodia’s traditional markets

Today, 7 June 2021, is the World Food Safety Day. This year, the day has the theme ‘Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow’.

The Safe Food, Fair Food (SFFF) for Cambodia project joins the rest of the world to celebrate the day by launching a short video highlighting ‘Five keys for retailing safer pork in Cambodia’s traditional markets.’

This video, which is produced in Khmer and subtitled in English, aims to support national food safety authorities and food chain stakeholders in promoting good practices among pork retailers in Cambodia’s traditional markets.

Cambodia has a rich tradition of tasty and nutritious foods. Animal-source foods are an important part of the cuisine with pork, fish and poultry products widely consumed. In recent years, development in Cambodia has been accompanied by urbanization, rapid increases in demand for livestock products and, consequently, rapid changes in supply chains, which become longer, more complex, and less transparent.

An October 2018 to August 2019 market assessment by the SFFF Cambodia project in 25 provinces shows a high level of pork contamination with Salmonella (43%) and Staphylococcus aureus (31%). Cross-contamination in traditional markets and poor hygiene practices are the leading causes to unsafe pork in the country. The good news is that retailers can improve the safety of pork using simple and low-cost hygiene practices, which include ensuring food (pork) is not cross-contaminated, maintaining cleanliness in retail areas, using easy-to-clean materials on tables, and getting certified and trained in food handling.

The SFFF Cambodia project is a three-year (September 2017–July 2020) sub-award under the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems. The project is led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in partnership with the National Animal Health and Production Research Institute (NAPPRI), the Livestock Development for Community Livelihood (LDC), and Emory University, USA.

See other links we publish at ILRI on the World Food Safety Day:

• Virtual media roundtable on food safety: Scientists urge for action on Africa's food-borne diseases burden, Xinhua, 4 June 2021
• An article about food safety in The Conversation Informal food markets: what it takes to make them safer
• Opinion piece in The Telegraph I went to Wuhan to investigate the origins of Covid. Here’s what we can learn from Huanan market