Chewy White Rabbit, 3 more China goods laced with formalin - BFAD

The famous White Rabbit creamy candy — which was once given as a gift to former US President Richard Nixon — and three other food products from China were found to contain the poisonous chemical substance formaldehyde, commercially known as formalin or formol. The Bureau of Food and Drug (BFAD) came out with the findings, after inspecting for more than two weeks over 600 food products that the Philippines imported from China. BFAD Deputy Director Joshua Ramos told GMA News’ 24 Oras on Monday that the agency’s report on the findings, signed by Director Barbara Gutierrez and submitted to Health Secretary Francisco Duque, will be used as basis to ban these products made in China. “We will be issuing a public health advisory, advising consumers to refrain from buying such goods until (these) are proven safe," said Ramos. The other three products found to be tainted with formalin are a brand of milk candy made by Romanticfish Food Industry, Bairong Grape Biscuits made by Dongguan Bairong Food Stuff Company and distributed by Goodway Int’l. Trading Corp. and Yong Kang Foods Grape Biscuits made by Dongguan Yongkang Food Company, Ltd. “The distributors will be enjoined to withdraw (these products) from the market until such time that there will be evidence that they are safe," Ramos said. GMA News said that based on the findings of the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, formaldehyde is linked to fatal diseases such as brain and lung cancer and leukemia. Formaldehyde-based solutions are used in embalming to temporarily preserve human remains. It is also used for making glue, plastic and disinfectant. The other kind of White Rabbit candy — the brown and hard one — already manufactured in the Philippines, does not contain formaldehyde, according to BFAD. The White rabbit with a chewy and soft texture, wrapped in edible paper made of sticky rice is one of China’s top candy brands, manufactured in Shanghai by Guanshengyuan Food, Ltd. According to an article posted on Wikipedia, the candy, similar to the European nougat, was given as a present to Nixon in 1972, when the then US president visited China. - GMANews.TV