Melamine, Qualibet, and BFAD
Whatever happened to the melamine test results “released” by Qualibet last October 2? And what announcements have been made by the DOH and BFAD regarding the status of melamine tests conducted on products being sold in the Philippines?
Last October 2, ABS-CBNNews.com reported in Independent lab confirms eight products contaminated with melamine the following:
An independent testing center has found out that eight food products, including a popular brand of processed meat and an iced drink sold by a popular coffee shop, have tested positive for melamine contamination.
ABS-CBN News on Thursday obtained exclusively the test results from the independent laboratory Progressive Laboratories (Qualibet Testing Center) in Quezon City, which tested 14 China-made products for possible melamine contamination.
Now that there doesn’t seem to be any official announcement yet, do we all sit back and wonder if the product that Qualibet tested came from Starbucks, Figaro, Gloria Jeans Coffees, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, or any of our other favorite coffee chains in the Philippines?
I wish the BFAD and DOH would work faster. Or at least, the companies with milk-related products could help by coming out with their announcements about their products. Hopefully, those announcements will be direct and to the point. Something around the lines of “our products do not contain melamine.”
All this silence is making me nervous and makes me want to reach for some yummy iced coffee.
I saw in the Oct 9 report of the Inquirer (Milk crisis draining BFAD resources) that Ma. Lourdes Santiago, officer in charge of BFAD’s laboratory services, said “they were surprised that the privately run Qualibet Testing Services Inc. claimed it had tested 14 food products from China including chocolates, milk and canned meat and found seven to be contaminated with melamine, which could damage the kidneys when ingested.” She also said that their are prioritizing the verification of the claims of Qualibet.
I wonder when they’ll get around to actually completing that.
Comment by Nica — October 11, 2008 @ 10:18 pm