FDA names 5 ‘fake’ vinegar variants

MANILA, Philippines — Five vinegar products were found to contain synthetic acetic acid, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.

Based on Advisory No. 2019-144 signed by FDA officer-in-charge Rolando Enrique Domingo, the products are Surebuy Cane Vinegar, Tentay Pinoy Style Vinegar, Tentay Premium Vinegar, Tentay Vinegar “Sukang Tunay Asim” and Chef’s Flavor Vinegar.

Domingo said they tested 39 samples of vinegar collected from various sources and these five products tested positive for synthetic acetic acid.

He added the products were subjected to testing of Permanganate Oxidation Number, an “AOAC official method of analysis on the quality of vinegar.” AOAC stands for the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 

“Following the current Administrative Order prescribing the standards of identify and quality of vinegar, any artificial matter such as synthetic acetic acid or any cloudifying agent deems the vinegar adulterated, hence, it must not be sold to the public,” he said.

Domingo, however, claimed that the presence of the substance “is not a safety issue and does not pose any health risk to consumers as this only means that the vinegar is of substandard quality.”

He added that the presence of synthetic acetic acid “merely represents that the vinegar did not undergo fermentation, either through a slow process, quick process, or submerged culture process which is used for commercial vinegar production.”

The FDA urged all concerned establishments to comply with quality standards in vinegar production, warning that violators will face appropriate regulatory actions.

Last month, it was reported that a study done by the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Nuclear Research Institute showed that eight out of 10 vinegar products in the market are not made from natural sources.