FDA waiting for Agri dep’t signal to pull out ASF-positive meat products

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will rely on the recommendation of the Department of Agriculture (DA) before issuing a pull-out order on processed meat products which tested positive of the African Swine Fever, the FDA Philippines officer-in-charge said Thursday.

Consumer advocacy group Laban Konsyumer Inc. and the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. are urging the Bureau of Animal Industry to name the brand of the ASF-infected products.

Asked if the agency is planning to pull out the infected processed meat from the market, FDA officer-in-charge and Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said they are now waiting for the DA report before issuing an order.

“We are still waiting for the report from DA but the public should be reassured that consumption of such products pose no threat to human health,” Domingo told GMA News Online.

“We will wait for the DA recommendation because there is no safety issue for humans. It is a disease involving animals,” he added.

A copy of clinical laboratory report from the bureau’s Veterinary Laboratory Division was leaked to the media showing that three meat samples were contaminated with the ASF virus.

The three processed meat samples were hotdog, longganisa, and tocino that came from a sender with the address 262-C Teresa St., Sta. Mesa, Manila.

However, other information regarding the sender of samples, were obscured with an orange marker. —VDS, GMA News