PJB

Do you know what products sold in the Philippines have been tested for the presence of melamine?

Last October 3, the Philippine Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) posted an advisory on their website on what products have been found positive or negative for melamine.

In the first batch of adisories to be released by the BFAD, two (2) products have so far been found POSITIVE for melamine, which means they are UNSAFE for consumption and should be AVOIDED. These are:

1. Greenfood Yili Fresh Milk (in Chinese character)
2. Mengniu Drink (in Chinese caharacter)

On the other hand, twenty-eight (28) products have been found NEGATIVE for melamine, which means they are SAFE for consumption. These are:

1. Anchor Lite Milk
2. Anlene High Calcium Low Fat Milk U.H.T. (recombined)
3. Bear Brand Instant
4. Chichok Milk Chocolate
5. Farmland Skim Milk
6. Jinwei Drink
7. Jolly Cow Pure Fresh Milk
8. Kiddie Soya Milk Egg Delight
9. Lactogen 1 DHA Infant Formula
10. M&M’s Milk Chocolate Candies
11. M&M’s Peanut Chocolate Candies
12. Milk Boy
13. Nestogen 2 DHA Follow-up Formula
14. Nestogen 3 DHA Follow-up Formula
15. Nido 3+ Prebio with DHA
16. Nido Full Cream Milk Powder
17. Nido Junior
18. No-Sugar Chocolate of Isomaltooligosaccharide (Cocoa Butter Substitute)
19. Nutri-Express Milk Drink
20. PURA UHT Fresh Milk
21. Snickers Fresh Roasted in Caramel & Soft Nougat in Thick Milk Chocolate
22. Vitasoy Soya Bean Milk
23. Wahaha Orange
24. Wahaha Yellow
25. Want-Want Milk Drink (Red Can)
26. Windmill Skim Milk Powder
27. Yinlu Milk Peanut
28. Yogee Yoghurt Flavor Milk Drink

What milk does your child drink? Our son, CJ, currently drinks NIDO, a milk product produced by Nestle Philippines.

As a parent, the ongoing milk scare brought about by Chinese-made milk that are tainted with melamine, a toxic substance, caused us so much concern.

Our fears have somewhat been allayed by Nestle Philippines’ recent announcement assuring the safety of their milk products.

According to Nestle’s website, the other products that they produce or carry aside from NIDO are the following: BEAR BRAND, NESLAC, NESTOGEN, NESVITA, and NESTLÉ.  They also import NAN 1 from the Netherlands, NAN 2 and 3, from Switzerland, and NAN HW 1 and 2 from Germany.

Well, at least that’s one less milk-related item to worry about, now the problem is what of other milk-based products circulating our Philippine markets (pastries, milk snacks, candies, etc)? What do we do now?

I’m sorry, but you can’t blame me if I stay clear of Chinese-made or Chinese-sounding products for the meantime. Melamine-tainted milk, formalin-laced white rabbit candies, toxic lead-laced toy paints and defective christmas lights are more than we can handle for now, thank you.

—–
Related blog entry:
Warning: Do you know what milk products have melamine?

In the news:
1. Philippine Daily Inquirer: Ban on China milk eyed
2. ABS-CBN News: Nestle assures safety of milk products
3. GMA News: Arroyo orders temporary ban on China-made milk products

I don’t understand why a lot of people have been hitting on the credibility of Mr. Jun Lozada, the ZTE-NBN deal star witness. Some sectors keep on presenting arguments about his checkered past that they simply forget or ignore what the real issue is – our quest for the truth. Come on, the truth is still the truth regardless of the source.

So what if he has a lot of skeletons in his closet? If we go by this argument, then why did we, as a nation, insist on hearing out and believing other star witnesses in the past, like the Chavit Singsons, the Jessica Alfaros, etc., who also had their share of hidden skeletons or were accomplices to a particular crime? Why should credibility be an issue now with Mr. Lozada?

If I recall, Erap’s downfall and GMA’s ascendancy into the presidency was because such a star witness with a questionable past was initially vilified, then listened to, and eventually glorified by most Filipinos.

Let’s burn our brain cells to figure out how to sift through the truth and not how to bring a good (or bad) man down.

Have you read any good poetry stuff lately? Well, check out Ganns Deen’s take on the political brouhaha that’s currently troubling the Philippines. He’s got some pretty awesome stuff going here.

Cheers!