An export industry leader in Cebu has encouraged authorities to further analyze reports pointing to a local fisheries exporter as the source of contaminated scallops that left 252 people ill with hepatitis A in Hawaii.
Federico Escalona, executive director of the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) Cebu, said a thorough investigation and analysis of control points should reveal the truth.
“It hasn’t been established where the hepa A came from. What was established was that (the scallops) were exported from this company,” he told Cebu Daily News over the phone.
Lapu-Lapu–based firm
Escalona referred to De Oro Resources, Inc., based in Lapu-Lapu City, which is being blamed for the outbreak of hepatitis A in Hawaii. An Inquirer report showed that scallops from the Philippines tested positive for hepatitis A.
The tests done by the US Food and Drug Administration last month identified the frozen Sea Port Bay Scallops produced by De Oro Resources Inc. as the likely source of an outbreak of the hepatitis A virus in Hawaii.
Messages left with the company’s main office in Lapu-Lapu City weren’t immediately returned. The scallops are imported by Sea Port Products Corp. in Washington State.
There’s a Hawaii-wide embargo on the product which prohibits businesses from selling them and warns consumers not to eat them.
The frozen scallops were served raw at a sushi chain called Genki Sushi. The chain’s 11 restaurants on Oahu and Kauai were ordered closed.
The popular restaurants, which serve sushi on conveyor belts, must dispose of their food supply and disposable items like cups and napkins and disinfect the facilities before they reopen.
Cebu waters
Escalona said when exported products reach a destination country, they are received by the importers who then distribute it to retail chains.
“Where did it actually happen? For a fact, our waters in Cebu are not contaminated with hepa A,” Escalona claimed.
According to the World Health Organization, hepatitis A is a viral disease characterized by severe stomach pain, dark jaundice and fatigue. Among people with weak immune systems, it can also cause liver failure and death.
The virus is transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food and water or through direct contact with an infectious person, WHO said.
Contamination point
Escalona said any inquiry should establish where the contamination point was to determine if the local exporter was responsible for the outbreak.
Escalona said the mere fact that the company and locality where it is in were mentioned paints a damaging picture for the export industry here.
“That kind of news can be damaging, and we have very strong marine exports from our region. People tend to conclude immediately based on news,” he said.
National exports declined for the 16th straight month at the start of the second half of 2016 due to persisting sluggish global trade.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that merchandise exports dropped 13 percent year-on-year to $4.7 billion in July.
Marine products, Escalona said, are usually imported by the US, the country’s traditional partner, Japan, which is another big market, and China, among others.
He said the food sector, which includes marine products, places in the top 10 exports but not in the top five. “You still have furniture, home decors, seaweed and fashion accessories, all of which also being exported by Cebu,” Escalona said.
Escalona said De Oro Resources, a member of Philexport, passed two stages of inspections by the organization.
“Their exports go through our inspections– one at the local level and the other at the national level. You can’t say they did not meet our standards,” he said.
He said Philexport certifies exports based on capability to export and the cleanliness of their facilities, among others.
Importers abroad require exporters certification for their products. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will certify the quality and safety of marine products.
Some importing countries only need the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP).
The FDA defines the HACCP as a management system wherein food safety is addressed through “the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.
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