Expired goods found being sold in Carbon

CEBU - Consumers are warned of food products being sold along the streets of Carbon Public Market and its neighboring areas after personnel of the Cebu City Market Operations Division confiscated assorted expired food items worth P100,000 being sold there reportedly for three years now.

Market administrator Raquel Arce said yesterday that seven vendors along Calderon Street corner El Filibusterismo St. and Calderon St. corner Lincoln and Manalili Sts. were found selling the said expired food products.

 Ketchup, milk (condensed and evaporated), yeast, flour, soy sauce, chocolate drink, mini fruit gel sweets, tomato sauce, seasoning, margarine, hotdog, pork, iced tea, nata de coco, and fruit cocktails are among the various items found to have been sold there.

A basket of repacked baby diapers of various sizes was also confiscated.

All the items seized were turned over to the Department of Agriculture for proper disposal of.

Angelita Salarda, chief of health regulation of the Bureau of Food and Drugs Administration, said that expired food products are not necessarily toxic but that such would result to diminished nutritional value.

Also, Salarda said that still it is not advisable to consume expired food items as these may contain certain bacteria that may pose danger to one’s health.

Arce confirmed that the seven vendors come from Mandaue City and that one of these vendors claimed they got the expired products from a warehouse somewhere in barangay Pakna-an.

Monina Coyoca, BFAD food and drugs operation officer, said that somebody went to their office the other day and reported of a warehouse in an unspecified place in Mandaue allegedly stocking expired goods.

Coyoca said they advised the complainant to report the matter to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group or the National Bureau of Investigation for proper inspection.

Personnel of the City Health Department who inspected the items said that such are already unfit for human consumption.

“Ang fruit cocktail nga gisulod sa balde kung imong simhuton ang babaw kay okay ra, pero ang ilalom pwerte na gyong baho-a. Hasta na to ang usa ka balde nga ketchup, baho na gyod unya gibaligya lang gihapon,” Alberto Dacayan Jr., market police supervisor, said.

Arce added that they confiscated the items at 3 a.m. yesterday after conducting surveillance on transactions earlier.

“Tan-aw namo kasagaran namalit kay mura og suki na nila. Unya mura og mamaligya-ay sa karenderya,” Dacayan said.

Arce also said that beginning yesterday they are closely monitoring food items sold in public markets to prevent such from finding their way on the streets again.

She further said that they were supposed to check milk and milk byproducts in Carbon Market the other day in relation to the melamine scare but were horrified instead by the discovery of expired food products being sold there. – Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon with reports from Jessica Ann Pareja/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)