Shop selling expired noodles, chicken padlocked

CAMP PACIANO RIZAL, Laguna—Authorities in Cabuyao, Laguna, on Friday padlocked a junk shop that was found to be stocking and selling expired goods and chicken meat.

Marinette Lazaga, municipal sanitary inspector, said by phone that AL+MED Enterprises violated municipal laws by selling repacked goods and meat products though its business permit allowed it to only operate as a junk shop.

Sanitary inspectors and the Laguna police were tipped off about the illegal operation and checked the junk shop’s compound in Barangay Sala on Wednesday.

Authorities found 2,204 kilograms of repacked noodles,

38 kg of repacked cereal, 15 kg of noodle seasoning, and 511 kg of dressed chicken, which all turned out to be expired.

Sanitary inspectors did not believe the junk shop owner, Medelyn Batas, when she claimed the goods were sold only as animal feeds.

“We found some of the original packages of the noodles that said they were expired for over a year already,” said Lazaga.

Authorities said the owner would not immediately disclose where the goods and meat came from, but Supt. Arnel Gongona, Cabuyao police chief, said they recovered packages of Ho-Mi, a brand of instant noodles, during the inspection.

On Thursday, the sanitary office buried the goods and meat in a remote vacant lot in Cabuyao.

The arrested owner was freed also on Wednesday after posting P2,000 in bail.