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Friday, October 03, 2008
Melamine test results out Friday
MANILA -- Health authorities allowed agency-recognized laboratories to test China-made milk and milk-based products for melamine as initial list of products tested for melamine contamination will be released Friday.
Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) Director Leticia Gutierrez in a circular released Thursday said recognized laboratories are allowed to test products for melamine contamination, however, test results shall be evaluated and verified by the agency.
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These laboratories are Biotech - Central Analytical Services Laboratories (CASL), Biotech - Philippine National Collection of Microorganisms (PNCM), First Analytical Services & Technical Cooperative (Fast), Intertek Testing Services Inc., Lipa Quality Control Center, Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry (Pipac), Progressive Laboratories, Sentro sa Pagsusuri, Pagsasanay at Pangasiwang Pang-Agham at Teknolohiya Corp (Sentrotek), and SGS Phils. Inc.
Government counterpart laboratories are Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) - Standards & Testing Division Microbiology Laboratory, Food Development Center (FDC), Natural Science Research Institute (NSRI) and National Dairy Authority (NDA).
Trade Secretary Peter Favila said BFAD will ask the help of 14 laboratories in testing different milk, dairy, and Chinese-made products for melamine contamination.
Favila, a member of the special composite team formed to handle the melamine controversy, said the Department of Health (DOH), mother agency of BFAD, would be publishing or making public the list of private laboratories where manufacturers could bring their products for testing and certification of public safety.
He said due to insufficient manpower, BFAD is unable to address all the testing and analysis to be done.
He assured though that the private laboratories to be accredited would pass the basic qualifications and would have the competence and capacity to undertake the tests.
He said Senator Manuel Roxas II had even suggested tapping the services of laboratories in Hong Kong, which could have test the products and retrieve the results within a day.
"The people are now affected by this milk scare," he said.
Melamine, a toxic industrial chemical that can cause kidney failure, is reportedly high in nitrogen and has no nutritional value. It has been used in some milk products that are manufactured in China.
Favila said many milk companies are also asking for the government's help as the sale of their products -- even if it is not made from China or had not used any raw material from China -- is already being affected.
He said they continue monitoring the market to ensure that no Chinese-made food products are sold unless they are certified as safe.
He enjoined the public to report to authorities if there are still some stores that continue to sell such items.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) also conducted visits and test buys in duty free stores in Subic, Clark, and Parañaque to check on chocolate and milk products.
Jairus Paguntalan, director of the bureau's Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), said they will take samples of the products for laboratory analysis to determine if they are fit for human consumption.
The BFAD will conduct the laboratory analysis, which will also find out whether the products are contaminated or not.
According to Paguntalan, they will not confiscate milk and chocolate from the duty free stores unless they have an order from BFAD or the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
"We would have to wait for BFAD or DTI. We want to get their advice on what to do to determine if they are still selling the products dairy and chocolate from China," he said. (JMR/FP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (October 3, 2008 issue)
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