FDA test shows Laguna lambanog has high methanol content

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the brand of lambanog that was taken by people who later died in Laguna contains too much methanol.

In a report of Mariz Umali on 24 Oras on Tuesday, the acceptable level of methanol content of lambanog is 0.1 percent.

However, based on the tests conducted by FDA on the same brand of lambanog that was consumed by the victims in Laguna showed very high methanol content.

FDA officer-in-charge of Field Regulatory Operations Office Emilio Polig Jr. said the tests conducted on one brand of lambanog found in Sta. Rosa and Calamba were positive for methanol.

Moreover, the level of methanol content they found in the samples in Sta. Rosa was 16 percent while in Calamba various samples tested to have 6.5 percent , 6.6 percent and 8.9 percent methanol content.

The brand is not registered with the FDA.

However, the agency cannot conclude that the victims in Laguna died because they consumed the alcoholic drink.

The FDA was already able to trace the source of the lambanog consumed by the victims in Sta. Rosa and Calamba. The agency, however, has not yet determined the source of the lambanog and whether the drink that was consumed by victims came from one source.

Authorities are still conducting an investigation to determine the source of the lambanog.

Meanwhile, the FDA has coordinated with the Philippine National Police for the confiscation of unregistered lambanog.

The FDA also discouraged consumers to use the flame test to determine the level of alcohol in drinks.

Polig said tests should be conducted in a laboratory.

DEATHS AFTER DRINKING SESSION

Three men died on Monday after consuming lambanog during a drinking session in Pandi, Bulacan.

Last week, deaths were reported in Laguna, Antipolo and Pampanga were linked to the consumption of lambanog.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), it is not methanol but the by product, formic acid, that is lethal.

"Hindi talaga 'yung methanol ang nakakamatay kundi 'yung by product niya, 'yung kanyang formic acid,” DOH Secretary Francisco Duque said.

“Yung process of distillation sa paglikha ng mga inuming alkohol, 'yung unang patak na nalilikha ay ang methanol. 'Yun ang dapat mong hinihiwalay. Tinatapon 'yon." he continued.

Once methanol is consumed it converted inside the body as formaldehyde until it becomes formic acid and poison, the report said.

"Ang unang reklamo, matinding  sakit ng kanilang mga tiyan. So, suka,” he said.

Duque said the chemical has adverse effects on the brain, liver, and kidneys.

He added that by consuming another kind of alcoholic drink or ethanol, the process of conversion of methanol into formic acid inside the body can be stopped.

"Painom mo rin ng alcohol, ng ethanol. Yung the usual alcoholic beverage para maibsan yung conversion ng methanol into formic acid,” Duque said. — Joviland Rita/BAP, GMA News