By Alec Go
Samples of the questioned canned tuna relief items will be forwarded to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for testing, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Monday, May 8, following complaints on the quality of the canned tuna.
The DSWD said the FDA will act as a third party to determine whether or not the Ocean’s Best Tuna is safe for consumption.
“The DSWD will wait for the results of the FDA tests as this will determine objectively and scientifically whether the questioned canned tuna flakes is really safe for the consumption of the beneficiaries or not,” DSWD Asec. Romel Lopez said.
“Until we have the full report of the FDA, we cannot categorically say if the complaints were due to taste preference or there is really contamination in the cans of Ocean’s Best Tuna,” he added.
Lopez said the FDA will also examine if the printed expiration dates “correspond to the state and quality of the tuna flakes inside cans.”
In an earlier statement, the department said the canned tuna are not yet expired. Still, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian ordered regional field offices to recall the canned tuna.
He also instructed the Central Office to talk to the supplier “for the replacement of the whole lot,” as well as the discussion of possible sanctions against the supplier such as withholding of payments and blacklisting.
The creation of a fact-finding board was ordered on May 6, following DSWD Field Office-Mimaropa’s confirmation that some beneficiaries in Oriental Mindoro have complained about the quality of the canned goods. – gb