PascualLab recalls calcium supplement

MANILA, Philippines - The Pascual Consumer Health Corp. (PCHC) has ordered the voluntary recall of “specific lots” of its calcium supplement CalChews chocolate flavor after traces of microbes were found in them.

In a statement, PCHC president Ricky Rivera said they have already notified the Food and Drug Administration of the recall last Monday and have “identified further actions to be taken to ensure the safety of the public.” 

PCHC is a subsidiary of Pascual Laboratories Inc. (PascualLab).

“In keeping with Pascual Consumer Healthcare Corp.’s commitment to serve with integrity and to guarantee the quality of our products, we are implementing, as a precautionary measure, the voluntary product recall of CalChews chocolate variant bearing the lot numbers 382BWA and 382BWB due to findings of microbial presence,” he said.

Based on PascualLab records, 164 boxes of these lots have been distributed to 17 trade accounts. 

CalChews is manufactured in the United States but are packed, labeled and distributed by PascualLab.

PascualLab said “its stringent and cGMP-compliant (current Good Manufacturing Practices) quality control procedures have detected the microbial presence in the affected lots of CalChews chocolate variant, as part of its standard practice of continuous monitoring and testing.” According to PascualLab pharmacovigillance officer James Yaranon, the company is still investigating the type of microbes found in the products.

But as a preemptive move to ensure public safety, Yaranon said they completely stopped the labeling and release of the affected products from its Balagtas plant the moment the microbes were detected.

PascualLab said the manufacturer of CalChews was already informed of the findings based on local tests conducted.

A comprehensive investigation of the matter will commence shortly. The investigation shall cover food origin, production process and environment, food samples and environmental monitoring.  

“It will also involve a review of the handling as well as processing controls,” the company said.

Latest results showed that the “microbial contamination concern appears to be limited to the stocks with lot numbers 382BWA and 382BWB, hence the selective voluntary recall.”  

“Other lots currently available in the market, on the other hand, were found compliant to product quality specifications,” it added.

“As a subsidiary of Pascual Laboratories, we value our 66-year heritage of having an exemplary record in the industry, and we are committed to preserving the integrity of our products and services,” Rivera said.

He assured the public that the company will “be even more vigilant with the quality of our products, as we continue to reinforce our current practices on inspections, sampling and checking to the best of our abilities.”