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THE
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has sent
monitoring teams to help intercept milk brands found to
be contaminated with melamine.
Also,
Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya has appealed to
supermarket owners to voluntarily withdraw from their
shelves imported milk until tests from the Bureau of
Food and Drugs (BFAD) are completed.
“We also
appeal to consumers to buy only branded milk products
and momentarily stay away from imported Chinese milk
until they are declared safe for human consumption,”
Maglaya said.
As this
developed, senators sought an outright total ban against
all milk products from China suspected to be
contaminated with melamine.
Seeking
to prevent similar cases of infant deaths in China from
tainted milk products, Sen. Edgardo Angara asked the
Senate to open an immediate inquiry into the problem
even as he suggested the creation of a composite team
from the DTI, Bfad and Department of Agriculture to
conduct random inspection and examination of all milk
products and byproducts suspected to contain melamine.
In a
privileged speech, Angara acknowledged that “poor
families would usually put more of their resources on
food consumption. Some are even easily swayed into
patronizing infant-formula products sold in the market
with cheap prices, without realizing that their child’s
health is put to risk.”
“These
milk products [from China] that mushroomed in the market
may pose harmful effects to a child’s health. And now
that this melamine contamination is prevalent, we must
exert all our efforts to make the public a wise
consumer,” Angara said.
Maglaya
advised against buying repacked milk products that do
not carry labels.
For the
consumers’ safety, she said it is best to buy known
brands.
In Camp
Camp Crame, Director General Avelino Razon Jr., National
Police chief, ordered regional police commander to
activate special teams to stop the transport of
contaminated milk.
Razon
said contaminated milk that is being withdrawn from
supermarkets in the cities may be sent by unscrupuluous
businessmen to remote areas in order to recoup their
investments.
Maglaya
quoted reports saying that milk products produced by
China’s Sanlu Group are contaminated with toxic
substance melamine. The substance was reported to be the
cause of kidney problems for babies in China’s Gansu
province, Beijing, and Shanghai.
Trade
Secretary Peter Favila, meanwhile, ordered all DTI
regional and provincial offices to assist the Department
of Health (DOH) in monitoring the presence of
contaminated Chinese infant milk in the market.
“All our
field offices are working with the health department to
ensure that contaminated milk products from China, will
not be sold to consumers,” he said.
“We
encourage consumers to report products from China’s
Sanlu Group sold at the market to DTI Direct 751-3330
open from Monday to Saturday from 8am to 5pm or you
could also go to the nearest DTI Regional and Provincial
offices. Complaint may call the Office of Secretary
Favila at 09178063473 or by texting DTI<space>message
and sending it to 2920 for both Globe and Smart
subscribers,” Maglaya said.
In
separate interviews, Sens. Loren Legarda, Richard
Gordon, Miguel Zubiri and Mar Roxas II pushed for a
total ban against imported milk products from China.
Legarda
noted that the government earlier claimed that dairy
products contaminated with melamine have not been
allowed into the country only to admit later on that at
least 15 brands are being sold in local outlets.
In
calling for a total ban on tainted milk products from
China, Gordon noted that “Chinese products are very
cheap and there is a great risk that these products
could be bought by parents and fed to their children who
would later get sick.”
“Customs
and port authorities should strictly check if ships
coming in have already unloaded these banned products
and seize them immediately,” Gordon added.
For his
part, Roxas recommended that the entry of milk imports
from China should be banned until the safety of
consumers and children are ensured. He asked the DTI to
inspect all retail outlets and to ensure that tainted
milk coming from China is not being sold. He said DTI
should tap local government units and the police to
immediately recall these tainted products. (B.
Fernandez, M. de Leon and Z. Solmerin) |
