Monday, September 29, 2008 Pull out China milk products in 24 hours
ALL stores, from small sari-sari store to big groceries inside the malls, are given 24 hours to remove all China milk products from their shelves or face sanctions from the City Government of Davao.
This was the warning made by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte against all storeowners who continue to sell China milk products despite warnings issued by concerned government agencies.
Duterte said over television Sunday that storeowners must not wait for the official list of milk products that are affected by melamine before they take them away from their store shelves.
"Dili namo dapat maghulat sa listahan sa BFAD (Bureau of Foods and Drugs). It's public health that's at stake here," Duterte said.
The mayor said that after the 24-hour ultimatum lapses and he still see some China milk products being sold in stores, he will call the owner of the store selling the product and have him eat up all China milk products he is selling.
"Kung mao na inyong kalaki, kamo gyud ang mauna ug ka-impatso," Duterte said.
Several supermarkets readily took China milk products out of their store shelves after the melamine-scare broke out in China.
Several babies were reported to have suffered kidney problems after drinking milk products laced with melamine.
The melamine-scare readily hit several countries that are importing milk products from China, Philippines among them.
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), which has detected melamine in eight products imported from China, has, however, downplayed the health risk from melamine-contaminated products from China.
In a statement, AVA stated: "the levels of melamine detected in the products are low and hence unlikely to result in adverse health effects."
In its advisory, the AVA said the "Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) of melamine as established by the US Food and Drug Administration is 0.63 milligram per kilogram body weight.
"This means that an adult weighing 60 kg or a child weighing 30 kg can ingest 37.8 mg of melamine and 18.9 mg of melamine every day over a lifetime without any appreciable health risk," the AVA said. (BOT)
