Monday, October 16, 2006 Stop ‘pan de sal’ from shrinking further, DTI told
SHRINKING in size, the pan de sal has caught the attention of a Cebu City city councilor.
Councilor Arsenio Pacaña apparently does not want his pan de sal to further lose weight.
In a proposed resolution, he asked the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to come up with a program to stop the possible reduction of the weight of the pan de sal, considered a staple in Filipino families’ breakfast table.
Pacaña is apprehensive that consumers will suffer if the Philippine Federation of Bakers Association Inc. (PFBAI) will push through with its plans.
The association had announced that it was officially reducing the weight of the P2-pan de sal by 12.5 percent, from 40 grams to just 35 grams a piece.
Outrcy
Pacaña specifically asked the DTI to revive the “Pinoy Pan de Sal”, a government project launched in 2003 to guarantee a 25-gram weight for a P1 pan de sal or a 50-gram weight for a P2 pan de sal, amid the public outcry against the shrinking pan de sal.
The pricing and weight was made possible using a cheaper flour mix known as “Harina de Pan de Sal” that is bromate-free and enriched with vitamin A and iodized salt.
The program, however, was not sustained reportedly because of the continued increase in the price of wheat and crude oil.
“Some sectors and consumers find the proposed plan of bakers to further lessen the pan de sal’s weight as rather ill-timed owing to the present decrease in the price of cooking gas as a result of the global plunge of the price of oil in the world market,” he said.
The councilor said it is disappointing to know that the 25-gram P1 pan de sal will soon be only 17.5 grams.
Cooking gas
The bakers said the increasing cost of flour and liquefied petroleum or cooking gas pushed them to reduce the weight of the bread.
Pacaña said it is already bad enough that the pan de sal has had to lose 30 percent of its weight in the last three years due to the increase in the price of basic commodities.
“It is imperative for DTI to take advantage of the country’s current economic gains and increase in the purchasing power of the peso to re-launch the ‘Pinoy Pan de Sal’ project as an early Christmas treat to a majority of pan de sal-loving Filipinos,’ he added.
Pacaña’s resolution will be tackled during the Cebu City Council’s regular session this Wednesday. (LCR)
