Supermarkets admit gray areas in refunding peanut spread

MANILA, Philippines - Supermarket owners admitted Tuesday encountering gray areas in taking back and refunding peanut spread products that the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) had found with salmonella. Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association Inc. president Steven Cua said member supermarkets are particularly at a loss on whether to refund "almost empty" jars of the product. "Diskarte ng tindahan, serviceability ng tindahan, kung dalawang kutsara e dapat isauli ito e kung naospital ang tao? Diskarte na ng tindahan yan [We’ll leave it to the discretion of the individual supermarket. It’s up to the owner to weigh between giving the consumer a refund, and shouldering the hospital costs if the consumer gets sick because of the peanut spread]," Cua said in an interview on dzXL radio. Last week, the BFAD found two batches of peanut spreads to be contaminated with salmonella and warned the public not to be eat them. It ordered the immediate recall of Yummy Sweet and Creamy Peanut Spread 490 grams (Batch 11240810), with expiry date of May 24, 2009; and Yummy Sweet and Creamy Peanut Spread 224 grams (Batch 3040905), with expiry date Sept. 4, 2009. But Cua defended the requirement by some supermarkets for the consumers to produce the receipts or proof of purchase. "Ang problema, the fact that pag sinauli ng karamihan ng mamimili ng Yummy sa particular store na di binili, may kaunting trabaho maibigay ... Ang ibang tindahan ayaw nila [The problem is that if a consumer tries to get a refund from a store he did not buy the product from, there will be some problems. That’s why some stores require a receipt]," he said. BFAD had also advised distributors and retailers to stop selling the peanut spread batches and food service establishments to stop using them. It also ordered the manufacturer to inform consumers where to return any of the unconsumed products and get a refund. - GMANews.TV