DOH to order 'full disclosure' of imported milk ingredients

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health on Friday said it was revising the list of requirements that the government would ask from local milk distributors amid the recent “milk scare" on China-made products. In a radio report, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he has talked with the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) regarding the “new strategy" in dealing with milk product importation. Duque said the new requirements would include a full disclosure by local milk companies of all the ingredients they import. A full disclosure would allow the government to determine whether a particular food company is using milk sourced from China in manufacturing its products, he said. The DOH chief said companies found misdeclaring their imported ingredients would be held liable. In a related development, the BFAD said it would release within the day (Friday) the list of the milk brands that it earlier subjected to laboratory testing. BFAD director Leticia Gutierrez said the bureau did not instantly make public the names of the milk products because they first wanted to make sure that these brands were the same ones found to have been contaminated in China. Through the help of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, Gutierrez said they were able to compare the BFAD’s list against the list of Chinese milk firms earlier ordered shut down by the Chinese government. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV