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 — 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.
“At this time it’s premature to name na ‘yun pong nakitaan na ‘yun ay contaminant na po siya o nakakahawa sa kapwa baboy [that the products that tested positive with the disease were contaminants],” Cayanan said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel’s “Headstart.”
READ: Consumers of processed pork with swine fever virus need not worry, says DOH
“Wala po kaming any instruction or issuance na nagpapa-recall ng product [We don’t have any instructions yet to issue recall of any product],” 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.
‘Safe to eat’
The DA official also reiterated the Department of Health’s 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.
“When 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… Dahil na-cook po ito, so ‘yun pong virus na nakita run fragmented na, so it’s safe to eat,” Cayanan said.
(We’ve consulted Usec. Eric Domingo, the Food and Drug Administration’s current officer-in-charge administrator, and we have the same stand that the ASF has no effect on humans… When it’s cooked, the virus there would be fragmented, so it’s safe to eat.)
Cayanan, however, said they discourage the consumption of any ASF-afflicted pork.
“But of course, because of the Food Safety Act… we are not also encouraging processors to use meat that are contaminated,”
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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