DOH says 18 canned meat products melamine-free

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health yesterday cleared 18 canned meat products sold in the local market for possible melamine contamination.

Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) director Leticia Gutierrez said the 18 canned meat products were among the different milk and meat products subjected to laboratory examination and found negative of melamine.

“We took samples and tested these products after reports that some meat products from China were also found to be contaminated with melamine. But the test results were negative,” she said.

Based on laboratory test results from the National Meat Inspection Services (NMIS) as of Oct. 17, the 18 melamine-free canned meat products are:

• Argentina Corned Beef Chunky, 190 grams;

• Chang Long Pork Luncheon Meat, 170 grams;

• Greatwall Brand Premium Ham Luncheon Meat, 340 grams;

• Gulong (China Well-Known Mark) Pork Luncheon Meat, 340 grams;

• Liberty Pork Luncheon Meat, 375 grams;

• Maling Canned Pork Luncheon Meat, 397 grams;

• Maling Chunky Corned Beef, 150 grams;

• Maling Pork Luncheon Meat, 170 grams;

• Maling Pork Luncheon Meat, 397 grams;

• Maling Premium Pork Luncheon Meat, 397 grams;

• Maling Vienna Sausage, 140 grams;

• Narcissus Brand Pork Mince with Bean Paste, 185 grams;

• Narcissus Brand Premium Luncheon Meat, 397 grams;

• Narcissus Brand Spiced Pork Cubes, 142 grams;

• Narcissus Brand Stewed Pork, 397 grams;

• Purefoods Chinese Style Luncheon Meat, 165 grams;

• Purefoods Corned Beef, 210 grams; and

• Shanghai Brand Chinese Luncheon Meat (New Budget Size), 165 grams.

Gutierrez said BFAD has collected and tested samples of nearly 200 milk and meat products in the local market. So far, only four milk products from China have been found positive for melamine.

“At this time, we are still testing over 10 milk products and also about the same number of canned meat products from China and hopefully the results will be out within the week,” Gutierrez said in an interview.

“Hopefully, none of the remaining products under laboratory test will be found positive for melamine contamination,” she added.

After completing the laboratory tests for melamine contamination, Gutierrez said, BFAD will go back to regular laboratory tests on other products in the market.

She dismissed reports that some beauty products are also contaminated with melamine.         

Earlier, DOH through BFAD declared 103 China-made milk and milk-based products negative for melamine content.

The melamine scare erupted in September when health officials in China reported 54,000 illnesses, including four infant deaths, due to kidney stones and other renal failure resulting from consumption of milk tainted with melamine.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that based on initial results of the BFAD laboratory tests, the country has not been seriously affected by melamine contamination.

Meanwhile, in separate tests, the National Meat Inspection Services (NMIS) found no traces of melamine in four common brands of canned processed meat products from China.

The four brands tested and cleared by the NMIS are the pork luncheon meat and vienna sausage products of Maling; pork luncheon meat products under the brands Gulong and Narcissus, and the ham product under the Great Wall brand.

In a report to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, NMIS officer-in-charge executive director Jane Bacayo said “result of the laboratory tests showed that these products are negative of melamine.”

It was Ateneo’s Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry (PIPAC) which submitted for testing last Oct. 8 samples of the imported canned meat products, Bacayo said.

Yap clarified that the NMIS test is separate from the testing done by Qualibet, a private testing laboratory.

Yap said that the DA has no jurisdiction over Qualibet, and cautioned the private firm to be more careful in releasing reports so as not to create panic or invite legal action.      – With Marianne Go