By Ben Arnold O. De Vera with Rommel C. Lontayao and Sammy Martin
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has asked local retailers to
pull out milk products imported from China on reports that they had been
contaminated with the chemical melamine, which can cause kidney failure.
It advised consumers to carefully inspect milk products they would
purchase and avoid those imported from China.
According to Zenaida Maglaya, the Trade Undersecretary for Consumer
Welfare, the public should refrain from buying milk brands they are not
familiar with, especially those without labels in the packaging and are
being sold by street vendors.
She said the department is monitoring all milk products in the market.
Maglaya also advised consumers to buy locally produced milk instead.
Steven Cua, the president of Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets
Association, said supermarkets and groceries that are members of the
association are not selling any milk from China, and that they only
retail milk products approved by the Bureau of Food and Drugs.
He added that most of the milk products sold in the market come from
Australia and New Zealand.
The Bureau of Food and Drugs has started testing milk products coming
from China in reaction to reports that such were contaminated with
melamine.
Bureau Director Leticia Gutierrez also on Monday said her office has
been collecting samples of milk products from all over the country for
testing.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd said authorities are reviewing the
list of milk products, particularly those from China, which had already
tested positive for melamine.
Duque added that they may ban the products if they appear to be
contaminated with the chemical.
"We will have to recall all stocks of those products if there is
evidence of melamine. We will come up with an advisory for product
recall or withdrawal," the Health secretary said during a radio
interview.
Sanlu not registered
In an advisory issued last Thursday by the Bureau of Food and Drugs,
Gutierrez said that milk products manufactured by Sanlu Group in China
purportedly contaminated with melamine were not registered with the
Bureau of Food and Drugs.
"Neither is there any establishment in the bureau's roster of
licensed importers importing the [milk products made by Sanlu] directly
from China or any other foreign source," she added.
The bureau is also monitoring any presence of these products in the
market.
Local Nestlé products
In a statement released also on Monday, Nestlé Philippines Inc.
assured its customers that all its milk products in the country are safe
for consumption.
The statement quoted Sandra Puno, Nestlé Philippines Inc. director of
communications, as saying that raw materials for the company's milk
products manufactured and distributed in the Philippines are sourced
from Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the Americas.
"[Nestlé Philippines Inc.] locally produces milk products under
the brand names Nido, Bear Brand, Neslac, Nestogen, Nesvita and
Nestlé. Nestlé also imports as finished goods Nan 1 from The
Netherlands, Nan 2 and 3 from Switzerland and Nan HW 1 and 2 from
Germany," according to the statement.
Also, Nestlé clarified an earlier report that traces of melamine were
found in a Nestlé growing-up milk in Hong Kong.
"Nestlé is confident none of its products in China is made from
milk adulterated with melamine. Hong Kong's Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department has just released a report declaring that Neslac Gold
1+, which was mentioned in media reports, is safe and that no melamine
was detected in the product," the statement said.
It added, "Neslac Gold 1+ from China is not available in the
Philippine market."
The advisory from the Trade department came out amid reports that
contaminated Chinese milk products have reached Philippine shores and
are being sold in repacked form especially in sidewalk stalls.
Call for action
Last week in China, it was reported that at least three babies died and
over 6,000 got sick after they were fed with an infant-formula brand
manufactured by Sanlu Group.
The brand was also reported to be adulterated with melamine, a compound
used in plastics and fertilizers and is banned from food products.
Some milk products from China's biggest dairy producer, Mengniu
Dairy, were reportedly also found contaminated with melamine.
A source told The Manila Times that some local big supermarkets started
selling Mengniu Dairy milk products a few months ago. "But [these
supermarkets] could have already pulled [Mengniu Dairy products]
out," the source said.
Two lawmakers also on Monday said the government should act swiftly
against contaminated milk products from China.
Reps. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City and Eduardo Nonato Joson of
Nueva Ecija said such products that were able to land in the market
should be pulled out at once to prevent them from "claiming the
lives of innocent babies."
Rep. Arthur Pingoy of South Cotabato, the chairman of the House
Committee on Health, appealed for calm.
He said that a recall order or total ban should not be immediately
handed down until local experts declare melamine contamination of the
milk products.