Tolentino worries over 'sad state' of FDA enforcement unit

Senator Francis Tolentino on Wednesday said he worries about the "sad state" of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) enforcement division, recalling that it was just recently discovered that a famous liver spread was not registered.

"Reno Liver spread has not been approved for the last half century by FDA. Eh bata pa ho ako ito 'yung palaman sa tinapay," Tolentino said during the budget debates in the Senate.

"Baka naman pag dumating sa vaccine ng COVID maglipana 'yung mga ganito, unchecked. That's my point," he added. "This is a sad state of our enforcment division. I really feel that if we have to add a budget for enforcement, it has to be FDA."

In September, the FDA advised the public not to buy and consume the popular Reno liver spread because it lacks the Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) though it has a License to Operate (LTO) as a manufacturer.

The agency said that the quality and safety cannot be assured without the certificate.

A month later, the brand was back in grocery shelves after successfully securing the required CPR.  -- BAP, GMA News