Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Bfad 7 personnel check supermarkets and collect samples of milk products
MORE milk and milk-based products have been taken off the shelves of local stores in Cebu for melamine testing.
The Bureau of Food and Drugs (Bfad) 7 has recently discovered in local supermarkets chocolate products that were manufactured in China.
Samples of the products were taken and will be sent to the Bfad Central Office for melamine testing.
Bfad 7 Section Head Monina Coyoca confirmed that they have found M&M chocolate candies, both of the milk chocolate and peanut variety, and Original Snickers chocolate bars, to have been manufactured in China.
“The samples will be sent to Manila for immediate testing,” said Coyoca.
Pull out
She added that, for now, all supermarket owners and importers of any milk products from China were advised to pull out their products from the shelves temporarily.
Coyoca added that importers should understand that the temporary pull out of their products is for public safety.
“At the same time, the people should be aware of what they are buying. Check the labels,” Coyoca advised the public.
The Bfad Central Office has recently released a list of 52 milk products and milk-based food items that are currently undergoing melamine testing.
Armed with the list, a Bfad 7 team, headed by Coyoca, inspected local supermarkets yesterday in order to collect samples of the milk and milk-based products.
At the SM Supermarket, the Bfad 7 team collected samples of Anchor Fresh Milk and Anlene milk products.
Precautionary measure
However, Coyoca clarified that both products were not manufactured in China.
“The Anchor Fresh Milk was produced in Hong Kong, while Anlene was produced in New Zealand,” said Coyoca.
Their collection, added Coyoca, was just as a precautionary measure.
The Bfad 7 team proceeded to White Gold Supermarket to check the products there.
“We collected candies, just in case,” said Food and Drugs Regulation Officer Grace Cardona.
Cardona added that while the soft candies collected were not milk-based, the Bfad 7 team opted to get samples for testing.
“We just remembered what happened before, with the case of candies contaminated with formalin,” said Cardona.
Chocolate candies
Aside from soft candies from China, the Bfad 7 also collected more M&M milk chocolate candies from White Gold Supermarket.
Cardona said that based on initial findings, importers and supermarket owners have been cooperative with the advisories of the Bfad.
“There were few China-made products that were collected. They (owners, importers) have been compliant and they pulled out the products,” said Cardona.
However, Cardona admitted that they did encounter problems with the Mars Inc., the importer of M&M, Snickers and other popular confectionaries.
“They have released an advisory to not have their products pulled out even if they are from China because their products are safe. But we just do not want to take any chances,” Cardona said. (EPB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 30, 2008 issue)
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