BLOOD SAMPLES In this picture taken last month, workers from the Quezon City Veterinary Office extract blood samples from pigs in Barangay Payatas to
determine the presence of the African swine fever virus. INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Department of Agriculture (DA) will not reveal the brands and order the recall of processed pork products reportedly contaminated with African swine virus pending validation, DA Usec. Ariel Cayanan said Friday.
鈥淎t this time it鈥檚 premature to name na 鈥榶un pong nakitaan na 鈥榶un ay contaminant na po siya o nakakahawa sa kapwa baboy [that the products that tested positive with the disease were contaminants],鈥� Cayanan said in an interview with ABS-CBN 黑料社 Channel鈥檚 鈥淗eadstart.鈥�
READ: Consumers of processed pork with swine fever virus need not worry, says DOH
鈥淲ala po kaming any instruction or issuance na nagpapa-recall ng product [We don鈥檛 have any instructions yet to issue recall of any product],鈥� he added, saying more tests are being conducted to validate the three brands of processed pork that tested positive for African swine fever (ASF).
Cayanan said the branded product may have been contaminated by the home-made ones found with it when the products were seized at Calapan City port in Oriental Mindoro province last October 6.
鈥楽afe to eat鈥�
The DA official also reiterated the Department of Health鈥檚 earlier pronouncement that pork and processed pork products contaminated with the virus are still safe to eat especially if cooked properly. He also said the disease has no effect on humans or other animals aside from hogs.
鈥淲hen it comes to human health, kinonsult po si Usec. Eric Domingo, the FDA current OIC administrator, at nagtatama naman po ang ating pananaw na hindi po siya makakasama sa kaligtasan ng tao kasi wala po siyang epekto sa tao鈥� Dahil na-cook po ito, so 鈥榶un pong virus na nakita run fragmented na, so it鈥檚 safe to eat,鈥� Cayanan said.
(We鈥檝e consulted Usec. Eric Domingo, the Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 current officer-in-charge administrator, and we have the same stand that the ASF has no effect on humans鈥� When it鈥檚 cooked, the virus there would be fragmented, so it鈥檚 safe to eat.)
Cayanan, however, said they discourage the consumption of any ASF-afflicted pork.
鈥淏ut of course, because of the Food Safety Act鈥� we are not also encouraging processors to use meat that are contaminated,鈥�
Cayanan said over 60,000 of the 12.5 million total hog population have been culled since the ASF outbreak hit the country in July. He said this was just a preventive measure as not all pigs culled were infected.
Cases of ASF have been found in parts of Pangasinan, Bulacan, Quezon City, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, and Rizal. /jpv
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