So You Want to Get Whiter? (Last of 3-part series)

Yes, there might be an answer to that question: How could these highly-priced (P1,500 per bottle) of glutathione capsules get away with murder? They claim 500mg glutathione content but actually have only less than 5 mg or 8 mg or even .49 mg? The evidence speaks loud and clear. After our series of reports on ABS-CBN on Lucida DS and Vaniderm and even Optimale — which all happen to be products of the United Shelter company — almost everyone now knows about products that might be fooling you into believing that what they advertise or what is printed on the bottle labels are actually true. But the Filipinos’ memory is reputed to be very, very short. Which is why it is up to the media and, importantly, the authorities of government and law enforcement to protect  consumers.

Consumerism is practically dead in this country. The system, laced with corruption and garnished with a government that doesn’t care (for as long as both the problem and the illegalities lie low) had been eaten alive by those who most benefit from appetizing situation. How could United Shelter, with its “substandard notoriety” officially documented since 2005 until April this year, continue to gleefully sell their “lies” on Home TV Shopping as if the expose hadn’t happened at all? How can Lucida DS and Vaniderm continue to have their illegal lay outs printed and put up as gigantic billboards all over the country? Their billboards and packaging claim therapeutic gains, which are disallowed by the Department of Health and the Bureau of Food and Drugs. The Philippine Medical Association has also disallowed doctors from endorsing such products directly, yet, it continues. 

The answer to the question certainly lies with those mandated by law to monitor activity, regulate standards and enforce the laws — but do not.  The Department of Trade and Industry is quick and definite to point to the BFAD as the be-all or end-all of checking and approving any food or drug that is allowed into the market. Can you imaging the range of power of the BFAD in this industry of edibles? It is the god of the food and drug industry. And with the DOH itself swamped in misery with poor funding there is hardly any monitoring of the BFAD as the higher authority. I can only imagine how the people at the BFAD had made its offices a paradise for those who know that money can be made there. 

Two witnesses, former employees of United Shelter, came forward to “spill the beans.” They claim that they are aware of “alaga” at the Customs and at the BFAD, which “make all the illegalities disappear.” “Kaya parati nalang silang approved. May mga nagreklamo nga dati at nagpadala pa ng sample sa kanila ng pagka-substandard. Biglang nawawala daw ang mga sample. Maya-maya, approve na. Paano nangyari yun?”, asked one of the witnesses.

The industry of food supplements had made multi-millionaires of the unscrupulous. It is an industry that has grown so fast that government systems have not caught up. Maybe, by design, authorities don’t want the system to catch up to give them time to make hay. It is the only answer I can think of to the question of the proliferation of substandard food supplements that continue to occupy much of the market shelves. The largest drugstore chain in the country, Mercury Drug, has taken off Lucida DS and Vaniderm from its shelves while it conducts its own checking. Lucida DS competitor, MET Tathione (which passed tests we asked PIPAC to conduct), has initiated its own official complaints with the BFAD. The BFAD claims to be conducting its own tests on “all the glutathione capsule brands” but can’t tell when they will be done. It will definitely look suspicious if everyone else’s tests show Lucida DS and Vaniderm to be substandard and the BFAD’s tests come out approved. Even without these tests, the BFAD actually, has a lot to explain. With the passage of the Cheaper Medicines Law of Senator Mar Roxas providing “more teeth and funding” to the BFAD, this particular agency of government, often below the media’s radar screen, has to come under the spotlight. Whatever it was or wasn’t doing right will be checked. Otherwise, it is next. 

So you want to get whiter?  Pinky Tobiano’s laboratory Qualibet is finalizing renewal of its BFAD accreditation. Once done, I will publish the findings on 17 brands of gluta capsules, only seven of which passed its claim of 500 mg.  You work for your money. It’s okay to spend on the ambitions to be “whiter” (although I must say I am loving my tan so much since discovering I feel better being tan than white).  But make sure you’re not made into a fool in the long process of whitening with substandard products that government can’t protect you from. Be white — and wise.