|
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Findings on recalled milk out in 2 weeks
MANILA -- The Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) said Wednesday it would need two weeks to complete the laboratory tests on the recalled milk products that were imported from China.
BFAD director Leticia Gutierrez said the process of finding out presence of any harmful elements in China-made milk products is not easy for it would require several testing.
What's your take on the Mindanao crisis? Discuss views with other readers
"If everything goes well, probably one or two weeks, and it will be available to the public," Gutierrez said.
She explained that milk has several substances and components, which need to be separated first, requiring time for them to determine if there are contaminants included in the products.
"The procedure is quite complicated because this is milk and it's a mixture," Gutierrez said.
She said they would not want to issue "half-baked" findings to the public that may cause more harm than good.
"We have to be sure and validate first our procedures. We don't want to release a result of false negatives or false positives," Gutierrez said.
Total ban
The Department of Health (DOH) imposed a total ban on all milk products coming from China following the reported spread of contaminated infant formulas in the Asian region last week.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III issued the total ban order to ensure the safety of the public.
China-based milk products manufactured by Sanlu Group Company, Mengniu Dairy Group Company and Yili Industrial Group Company were found to be positive of melamine, a substance that causes kidney stones.
Over 50,000 Chinese children got sick due to the melamine-contaminated milk and four infants already died for the same reason. As of this writing Wednesday, three more children outside of mainland China have also grown kidney stones after drinking Chinese-made milk products.
With that, similar bans are also imposed in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
BFAD said the ban will remain until all the necessary laboratory tests are accomplished and results have already been made public.
Inspection, monitoring
Meanwhile, BFAD director Gutierrez said operatives from the food bureau have been deployed and are still continuing their nationwide inspection for possible banned products that may still be available in the market.
The health official also appealed to critics to give them some leeway in doing their jobs as they are dealing with very serious and complex matters.
Some senators have chided the health department and BFAD over the slowness of their response to the milk scare in the region, which began last week.
"We hope they will understand that there are certain considerations that we have to respect. We have to undergo what is known in legal proceedings as due process. We don't have proof yet but we still prefer to err on the side of caution," Gutierrez said referring to the ban.
At the same time, Gutierrez asked other concerned government agencies as well as local authorities to help them in their bid to keep the public safe from possible ingestion of contaminated milk and dairy products.
During a press briefing in Malacañang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita warned importers of possible revocation of their licenses if proven that they are involved in bringing into the country the contaminated milk from China.
Ermita made the warning as the Bureau of Customs (BOC) ordered its operatives throughout the country to closely monitor all imported shipments, especially coming from China including milk and milk-related products.
The BOC also directed its personnel to ensure that none of the said China products would be allowed to leave the ports without passing the tests of the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD).
According to Ermita, the customs bureau had ordered their operatives to submit a sample of the milk products to BFAD first for test to ensure that it is safe and could be allowed for distribution.
Ermita, admitting that he is not sure on all the existing penalties, said importers of the milk contaminated with melamine could be charged for the violation of the Consumer Act or Republic Act 7934 and face possible suspension or even revocation of licenses.
"There are really punishments for their actions. Among others, should be the cancellation of the license of these importers so that they cannot anymore practice their trade of importing food from outside," he added.
He said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is in close coordination with the supermarkets associations in the country to ensure that no contaminated milk or imported food items that may have used milk from China would be sold to the public.
In Davao City, BFAD has already started its strict monitoring on melamine-contaminated milk in a bid to protect consumers' health.
In a resolution passed Tuesday, the Davao City Council asked the City Health Office and the Business Bureau to prohibit the selling of milk products from China.
The resolution also cautioned Dabawenyos from buying and consuming milk and dairy products from China.
Arnold Alindada, officer-in-charge of the BFAD, said the monitoring started Monday following the monitoring advisory from the BFAD-Central Office. As of Wednesday, he said the agency is still conducting follow-up monitoring on products manufactured from China, including candies, chocolates, and other dairy products.
In Cebu City, no melamine-contaminated product was yet found, but the city administrator has ordered market officials to continue checking stores in downtown and Carbon area. One powdered milk brand was, however, obtained from one of the stores in downtown Cebu and this has to pass inspection by the BFAD.
Aside from Davao and Cebu, BFAD and other health agencies have been conducting monitoring operations in several other areas in the country. (Sunnex)
Related Story:
Milk from China being banned
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (September 25, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
