MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Saturday said that it ordered a recall of the canned tunas included in its food packs following complaints that they were expired.
The DSWD said that complaints from residents circulated online about the canned fish it included in its Family Food Packs (FFP), with the brand name “Ocean’s Best Tuna.”
“DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian has already directed all Regional Field Offices to recall the canned tuna,” said the agency in a statement.
While the DSWD did not specify which regions these food packs with the allegedly expired tuna came from, online photos from ABS-CBN showed a resident from Oriental Mindoro displaying the purported inedible tuna.
Oriental Mindoro has been struck by an oil spill crisis, affecting the livelihood of thousands of people. The DSWD has been providing food packs to families impacted by the disaster.
READ: DSWD: P217M aid given to Mindoro oil spill-hit areas
“The DSWD Secretary also directed concerned officials to study all options including sanctions on the supplier, withholding of payment and even blacklisting from the list of accredited suppliers,” it added.
Despite recalling the tuna from its regional offices, the DSWD insisted that they are not expired.
“It is important to note that the canned tuna are not expired as can be seen from the samples presented in social media,” said the agency.
Gatchalian however, has since ordered the DSWD Central Office to talk to the supplier of the canned tuna to replace the allegedly expired ones.
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