FDA comes up with list of safe soy sauce products

MANILA, Philippines - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has come up with a list of locally available soy sauce products that conform to the safety standards to protect consumers.

FDA director Dr. Suzette Lazo said these products passed the regulatory standards set by the Department of Health (DOH) and FDA for 3 monochlorophone-1,2-diol (3-MCPD).

These are New Beans Soy Sauce by Dens Food Products; Datu Puti by Nutria Asia Inc.; Marca Piña, Toyomansi, Marca Piña Soy Sauce and Marca Piña Calamansi Soy Sauce by Pinakamasarap Corp.; Mang Kiko by Shoyu Food Corp.; Golden Swan Soy Sauce and Silver Swan Soy Sauce by Silver Swan Manufacturing Co.; Kikkoman Naturally Brewed Less Salt Soy Sauce and Lee Kum Kee Soy Sauce by Sysu International Inc.; Tentay Pinoy Style Soy Sauce and Tentay Soy Sauce; Marca Lapu-Lapu by Ve Ting Manufacturing Corp.; Zheng Feng Mushroom Dark Soy Sauce and Superior Light Soy Sauce by Rising Red Dragon Import Export Corp; and Mama Sita’s Premium Soy Sauce by Marigold Commodities Corp.

Lazo noted that 3-MCPD is a by-product of soy sauce manufacturing which uses hydrolyzed vegetable protein as an ingredient.

But in 1990s, 3-MCPD was found to cause cancer in animals, prompting countries to adopt standards on safe levels.

In 2002, FDA – then known as Bureau of Food and Administration – had set a standard of one part per million as the maximum allowable limit for soy sauce products which is also the standard adopted by the United States’ FDA.

Imported soy sauce products are also required to comply with such standard before the FDA issues certificate of product registration.

“To ensure that only safe sauce products of proven quality reach consumers, the DOH-FDA reiterates its call to retailers to refrain from selling unlabeled soy sauce products and encourages consumers to purchase products in their original containers,” Lazo said.

She also called on distributors, manufacturers and traders to register all local and imported soy sauce products for marketing in the country.