Authorities yesterday raided two stores in Talisay City, southern Cebu for selling unlabelled and expired canned goods.
Canned food such as pineapple tidbits, coconut strings (macapuno), black beans and tomato sauce were seized from Yul Enterprises in barangay Pooc and Camp Enterprises in barangay Biasong past 10 a.m. yesterday.
Officers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were assisted by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation, the Naval Forces Central (Navforcen) and the local police in conducting the raid.
“The products are not fake. But they are misbranded and expired. They are absolutely not safe for human consumption,” FDA officer Sarah Oriol told reporters.
The National Food Authority (NFA) also inspected several sacks of rice at Camp Enterprises that are believed to be spoiled.
Sofio Campo, owner of Camp Enterprises, and Yul Julia of Yul Enterprises were ordered by FDA to explain within 15 days why “adulterated and misbranded” food products are kept inside their respective stores.
Emilio Polig Jr., officer-in-charge of the FDA legal services and support center, ordered the store owners to immediately “cease and desist” from further selling food products that are adulterated or misbranded.
According to the FDA, a food is deemed to be adulterated if it “consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, or in part decomposed substance, or it is otherwise unfit for food; its container is composed, in whole or in part, of any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render the contents injurious to health; and if it has passed its expiry date.”
Last December, the FDA received a complaint from the Department of Health field office in Cebu City over the sale of “unlabeled, rusty, and dented food products” at the stores in Talisay City—a violation of Republic Act 9711 or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Act of 2009.
Antonio Bacalso, counsel of Camp Enterprises, was surprised by the raid.
He admitted that the store has expired food products but these were no longer displayed and sold to the public.
“I don’t think there’s any store that has no expired items. What is important is that these are not being sold anymore,” Bacalso said in an interview.
“The items which FDA seized were already placed in the storage area. They were about to be disposed,” he explained.
Edgar Diez, regional investigator of NFA, said they have yet to verify whether or not Camp Enterprises is selling spoiled rice.
“We saw high-end rice being sold. But there are also those which are already spoiled although they are placed in separate sacks,” he said.
Diez said they will also ask the owner of Camp Enterprises to explain why they should not be sued.
“We’re asking them to explain why they are operating without an NFA license. That’s part of due process,” he said.