"Mysterious" find offshore probed

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines  – The mysterious appearance of food packets, with expiry dates going back to as far as 1995, off the shores of Silliman Beach in Bantayan, Dumaguete City, has baffled authorities who are now trying to determine the circumstances behind it.

Angeline Gonzalez, chief of the Consumer Welfare and Business Regulation Division of the DTI-Negros Oriental office, on Thursday was surprised over the incident after being informed by reporters about the retrieval of the expired consumable goods.

While admitting that it was the first time learning about the unusual occurrence, Gonzalez assured the public that the DTI will coordinate with the Bureau of Food and Drugs and the Department of Health on what actions to take.

Last February 6, residents at Silliman Beach retrieved from the sea and the shorelines an undetermined volume of foil-packed beverage drinks, with brands like Milo, Nescafe, Bear Brand and Nestogen, among others that drifted at sea.

A number of adults and children admitted having partaken of these despite being told that these were expired goods. Some of the packets, photographed for documentation, showed an expiry date of September 1995.

Councilor Albert Aquino, Brgy. Bantayan captain and chair of the city’s ABC, was informed about the incident and in turn promised to take some samples of the items to the BFAD.

Gonzales said the BFAD here, headed by Vicky Sibala, has requested samples to be brought to her office.

She said that procedures for disposal of expired perishable items and the authority to monitor and control these are under the jurisdiction of the BFAD, which would also determine the circumstances behind the strange and unusual occurrence.

The DTI has a stake on this further considering that consumers had retrieved the expired items from the sea, Gonzalez said, as she promised to assist other agencies in finding out where these items could have originated and why these were not properly disposed of upon expiration, Gonzales said.

Gonzalez contacted the distributor of the above-named products but the latter said it had no idea on how these expired items had found their way to the shores of Bantayan.

The distributor explained to Gonzalez over the phone that they usually remove from the shelves expired or bad products and return these to their head office in Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, early this week, a fisherman found at Silliman Beach more expired packets and, this time, of seasoning with the brand name Pure. These were subsequently kept for submission to authorities.

So far, there were no reports of serious illnesses in people who consumed some of the expired beverages. (FREEMAN)