FDA warns manufacturers of violative food, drug products

Erring manufacturers that supply the market with “violative” food and drug products can be shut down by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as mandated by the law, officer-in-charge Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo warned on Monday.

“I would like to remind all food and drug manufacturers to strictly adhere to FDA rules and regulations. This is for the safety and protection of the public. Violators will be dealt with the full force of the law,” Domingo told GMA News Online.

Section 5 of Republic Act 9711 or the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009 mandated the FDA to “issue cease and desist orders motu propio or upon verified complaint for health products, whether or not registered with the FDA: Provided, That for registered health products, the cease and desist order is valid for thirty (30) days and may be extended for sixty (60) days only after due process has been observed.”

Health products were defined by the law as food, drugs, cosmetics, devices, biologicals, vaccines, in-vitro diagnostic reagents and household or urban hazardous substances and a combination of or a derivative of such substances.

The FDA regularly releases advisories on products which do not have registration certificates to warn the public against the possible health risks these may pose.

In a separate advisory on Monday, the FDA advised the public not to buy and consume the following unregistered products:

• Sundry Dried Mangoes
• Oh Yummy Sunflower Chocolate Seed
• Farm Delight Ampalaya Chips (Bitter Gourd)
• Farm Delight Malunggay Chips (Moringa Oelifera)

“The FDA verified through post-marketing surveillance that the abovementioned food products are not registered and the Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) have not yet been issued,” it said.

"Since these unregistered food products have not gone through evaluation process of the FDA, the agency cannot guarantee their quality and safety," it added.

On the other hand, the FDA lifted the advisory against the product Healthy You Chamomile and Honey Infusion after it has been registered by its market authorization holder with the regulating body. —VDS, GMA News