Beefing about unsafe corned beef product

A distressed housewife sends us this SOS:

Dear Consumerline:

I am writing to you as a last resort to appeal for assistance and to share a harrowing incident my family was involved in a few months ago.

On May 11, 2002, I bought a 12-pack, 175-gram Rodeo corned beef at Makro Sucat before lunch. The following night, May 12, we opened five cans of the corned beef, sauteed it and ate it for dinner. My two children, aged 5 and 6 years old, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and I ate the corned beef, our only viand during the meal.

What followed was a series of events that gave us a nightmare. At 3 the following morning, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and two children woke up with a high-grade fever. Later, diarrhea set in and then vomiting followed. Soon, I also began suffering the same. We were rushed to the Alabang Medical Clinic, but another sister-in-law who, fortunately, did not eat the corned beef decided to transfer us to the Victor R. Potenciano Hospital (formerly Polymedic). The five of us were confined at the hospital for five days. According to the lab tests, we all had acute intestinal amoebiasis. We lost a lot of weight and it took us two months to fully recover.

We took the cans to the Bureau of Food and Drug (BFAD) for testing. Their findings: The corned beef was not fit for human consumption. With the assistance of BFAD, we had three conciliation meetings with people from Philips Foods Corporation of Pasay City, makers of Rodeo corned beef. Counsel Dante Fugata and Philips employee Emily Arciga represented the company. They insisted that the Rodeo corned beef that we bought at Makro Sucat was fake. A Makro Sucat employee, who attended only the first conciliation meeting, didn’t speak a word. We learned that Makro employees are the ones who wrap all canned items, including Rodeo corned beef, in their warehouse outlet.

We requested that Philips Foods reimburse our hospital bills and transportation expenses. But Philips, through their counsel, refused and dared us to file a lawsuit against them. They wanted to see the actual cans themselves but when we went back to BFAD, a staffmember said that their office got flooded and they had to throw the cans away.

We went to a TV show to air our case but they didn’t want to entertain us because they said the incident happened a long time ago.

On behalf of my family, I’m appealing not only for a reimbursement of what is due us but also to inform the proper government agency to discipline big companies like Philips. If the Rodeo corned beef that we bought from Makro Sucat was fake as claimed by counsel Fugata, isn’t it the responsibility of Philips to investigate where this supposedly fake corned beef carrying their name is coming from? Isn’t it also right that Philips should have inquired from Makro Sucat where they bought those cans of corned beef?

And now, what happens to us hapless consumers? Will we always be at the mercy of big food companies like Philips? What is the government doing to monitor the so-called (as claimed by Philips) fake products flooding the market?

At the core of what has happened to us is something that Philips Foods did not realize: The loss of consumer trust. – Jessica Bumatay, Blk 178, Lot 12, Upper Bicutan, Taguig

Details of the BFAD report on the five cans of Rodeo corned beef tested in its lab and as attested to by analyst Catherine Cruz and Rizalina Opinion, chief, laboratory services division follow:

Sample description: 5 x 100 grams of Rodeo corned beef

Weight of sample submitted: 5 x 100 g

Findings:

• Packaging – All the five labels are soiled and dirty. Two of the five are partially burnt.

• Content – Smell of the meat product is not typical of corned beef.

Remarks: The poor quality of packaging and the characteristics of the meat product indicate that the submitted corned beef products are not fit for human consumption.

We’re forwarding Jessica’s letter (and supporting documents) to the Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Food poisoning (or food-borne illness) is a much dreaded word. It can happen to anyone anywhere (it is not exclusive to dirty restaurants in third world countries). Some of us may have had it without knowing it (you must have thought you were just coming down with stomach flu).

According to medical journalist Carol Turkington in her book Protect Yourself from Contaminated Food & Drink, "Any illness that appears suddenly and within 48 hours of eating a high-risk food (like insufficiently cooked eggs, hamburger, chicken or seafood) and causes stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea should be a suspected case of food poisoning. While symptoms vary depending on how badly the food was contaminated, there will often be nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain; in severe cases, there will be shock and collapse."

There are a lot of other symptoms of food poisoning which may often be misdiagnosed. Turkington adds that the greatest danger from food poisoning is not the toxin or poison itself but the body’s natural response to the poison like vomiting and diarrhea which can lead to dehydration or loss of vital fluids called electrolytes (particularly sodium and potassium).

Call a doctor is there’s severe vomiting or diarrhea or if the victim suddenly collapses. With the season for binging upon us, you’d better watch out when it comes to what and where you eat.