The administration of southern Vietnam’s Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province has directed local police to investigate the suspected food poisoning after consuming banh mi from a bakery in the province’s Vung Tau City, following the death of one among nearly 380 victims.

Dang Minh Thong, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, on Friday evening said that the authorities had just convened an urgent meeting to deal with the mass food poisoning case allegedly caused by banh mi, with first hospitalizations recorded on Wednesday morning. 

“The provincial authorities have directed local police to probe the mass food poisoning case and strictly handle it in accordance with prevailing regulations,” Thong said.

The bakery, C.B., located on Nguyen An Ninh Street in the city’s Ward 7, has been temporarily shut down pending the results of the investigation, and health workers have taken samples of banh mi and other foods from the establishment for testing.

As of Saturday afternoon, the total number of patients with food poisoning symptoms taken to health facilities in the province had amounted to 379, the health department reported.  

All the affected patients exhibited the same symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue after eating banh mi at C.B. 

One of these victims, Tran Van R., 71, who lived in a rented house in Vung Tau, died on Thursday evening.

R. was taken to Ba Ria Hospital at 7:45 am on the same day in a state of vomiting and diarrhea after eating banh mi from C.B. on Wednesday morning, the department said.

Doctors visit a patient with suspected banh mi food poisoning at Vung Tau Hospital in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Dong Ha / Tuoi Tre

After doctors diagnosed the man with sepsis, severe digestive infection, and acute kidney injury, the patient was treated with intravenous infusions, antibiotics, aspirin, and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).

At 4:10 pm on November 28, the patient suddenly turned purple, and he had unmeasurable blood pressure and pulse. 

Despite treatment efforts by doctors, the patient’s conditions got worse, and his relatives asked for the hospital's approval to bring him home at 9:30 pm on the same evening.

The man was reported to have died later.  

This is considered the largest-ever food poisoning case in the province, the department said.

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

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

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

The latest case happened in southern Dong Thap Province in August, affecting 149 victims.

Another case occurred in May in Dong Nai Province’s Long Khanh City, also in the southern region, involving 568 sufferers, one of whom – a five-year-old boy – died a month later.  

One more case, with 313 victims including 103 foreigners, was recorded in Hoi An, a tourist city in central Quang Nam Province in September 2023.

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