Samuya peanut butter products incinerated amid salmonella scare

MANILA, Philippines — More than 3,000 bottles of Yummy sweet and creamy peanut butter and Ludy's sweet and creamy peanut butter were incinerated Tuesday on orders of the Department of Health. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the products were burned to ensure that the salmonella-positive products would not be resold or distributed. “Ang layunin natin dito ay hindi ito makabalik sa mercado at baka ibenta ulit," Duque said in a report aired over GMA News’ “24 Oras." Both products, which were manufactured by Samuya Food Manufacturing Inc., have been recalled from store shelves last month after it was found contaminated with the bacterium, a leading cause of human food borne illness. Gonzalo Tianzon, owner of Samuya Foods, assured that the company is doing everything to regain consumers' trust. "Of course we are very optimistic na maibalik namin dahil ginagawa namin ang lahat para maibalik namin ‘yung trust ng consumers [Of course, we are very optimistic because we are doing everything to regain the trust of the consumers]," said Tianzon. Duque, meanwhile, assured that once Samuya is found compliant of the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) standards, “then I don’t think there will be any problems in terms of getting Samuya products back in the market." Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV