Tightening School Meal Controls: Do Not Select Suppliers Based on Low Bids

Deputy Prime Minister Le Tien Chau has signed Official Dispatch No. 64/CD-TTg dated September 13, 2026, from the Prime Minister on strengthening food safety and quality assurance for boarding and semi-boarding meals in educational institutions.

According to the Official Dispatch, local authorities and educational institutions have recently made significant efforts in organizing boarding and semi-boarding meals for children and students, ensuring food safety and adequate nutrition. However, in certain areas, the selection of suppliers for food, pre-packaged meals, and catering services; the verification of ingredient origins and quality; conditions for food processing, transport, and storage; and menu planning and nutritional control remain inadequate. These shortcomings present potential risks to food safety, impairing meal quality, nutritional value, and the health of children and students.

Local Authorities Bear Comprehensive Responsibility

Responsibilities for Managing Boarding and Semi-Boarding Meals

The Prime Minister has instructed the Chairpersons of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-governed cities to direct and assume comprehensive responsibility for organizing boarding and semi-boarding meals at educational institutions in their jurisdictions; to urgently review the implementation of Directive No. 33/CT-TTg dated August 14, 2026; and to promptly rectify shortcomings and gaps to prevent lax management, deficient inspection and oversight, or unclear accountability when incidents occur.

Local authorities must step up inspections and supervision over the provision of food, pre-packaged meals, and catering services; strictly monitor food origins, quality, food preparation, storage, transportation, handover conditions, and food sample retention. Violating organizations and individuals must be strictly penalized; suppliers that fail to meet requirements must be resolutely suspended or replaced.

Under the administrative hierarchy, commune-level People's Committees are responsible for organizing the selection of and contracting with catering and cooking service providers for public schools under their jurisdiction. The selection process must be open, transparent, and objective, prioritizing food safety, quality, nutritional value, supply capacity, traceability, and the wellbeing of children and students as core criteria, rather than selecting suppliers solely based on low costs.

Tightening Inspections, Raising Meal Quality

The Official Dispatch requires clarifying responsibilities among commune-level People's Committees, educational institutions, and catering contractors at every phase of meal management. Schools are directly responsible for receiving, checking, and supervising the quality and quantity of meals, the delivery and handover of food ingredients, and on-site meal administration.

The education and health sectors, alongside commune-level administrations, are required to increase periodic and unannounced inspections of school kitchens, processing facilities, and catering providers, especially those catering to multiple schools or serving large numbers of students.

The Ministry of Education and Training is assigned to promptly finalize and issue regulations on organizing boarding and semi-boarding meals; and to coordinate with the Ministry of Health in guiding the formulation of menus that ensure adequate energy, balanced nutrition, and suitability for age groups, nutritional requirements, regional conditions, and meal allowances.

The Ministry of Health is tasked with reviewing, updating, and guiding food safety and nutritional standards for boarding and semi-boarding meals; and directing local health agencies to intensify inspections of facilities producing, processing, and supplying food and meals to schools, particularly large-scale providers and multi-school contractors.

The Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Education and Training to take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to focus on executing the Official Dispatch, conducting routine inspections, urging progress, and reporting on implementation outcomes.