EDITORIAL - Swine flu

It is just natural for the Central Visayas office of the Food and Drugs Administration to urge distributors and retailers of processed pork meat to immediately recall and destroy their products from 16 countries hit by African Swine Flu.

After all, it is the job of the FDA to monitor whether or not food products are fit for human consumption. The agency is now busy inspecting canned meat products in supermarkets and other stores as the African Swine Flu scare now grips the country.

The FDA is giving distributors and retailers the chance to remove their products from the market.  But Anabelle C. De Veyra, cluster director of FDA-Visayas, clarified that only pork products manufactured from September 2018 and imported from Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Czech Republic, China, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Zambia, South Africa, Ukraine, and Vietnam are the subject of the recall order.

Few days ago, the agency ordered all importers and distributors to remove processed pork meat products bought from those countries. FDA Order 2019-046 also advised consumers to return canned goods imported from these countries.

However, the agency has not been clear about which products from those countries that should be recalled and destroyed since not all canned products from those countries are affected by the African Swine Flu.

Even the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) is confused. Although it assured that local meat products do not contain raw materials from countries infected by the African Swine Flu, the association scored the FDA for not being specific in its statement, such as which brands are infected with the swine flu virus.

Yes, we are thankful that not a single can of pork products from those countries now in local markets has been confirmed to be afflicted with the virus. But it’s too early to celebrate because the battle is still being waged. Until the global campaign against the swine flu virus is victorious, Filipinos need to be religiously vigilant.