FDA bans cooking oil, sugar from Valenzuela firm

By: Tina G. Santos - 11 years ago

MANILA, Philippines—The Food and Drug Administration is warning the public about cooking oil and sugar products sold illegally by a company based in Valenzuela City.

The FDA advised consumers not to purchase or use any product repacked and distributed by Authority Trading Corp. (ATC).

The products include:

* Lucky Light Washed Sugar

* Lucky Light Refined Sugar

* Luck Light Refined Sugar

* Best Quality Puregold Equal Refined Sugar

* 5 Pinya Raw Sugar

* Jumbo Savings Pure Cooking Oil

* ATC Lucky Light Cooking Oil

* ATC Aflower Light Cooking Oil

* Daylee Pure Vegetable Cooking Oil

“All distributors, traders, grocery stores and retailers are also hereby ordered to discontinue the selling, distribution, and offering for sale to the consumers of all aforementioned products,” the FDA said in its advisory.

The FDA’s order stemmed from findings that the company did not have a valid license to operate as a food repacker and that it had failed to obtain Certificates of Product Registration from the agency for all of its products.

The company was found in violation of the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009 and the Food Safety Act of 2013, it said.

FDA Director General Kenneth Hartigan Go said critical and major violations of good manufacturing practices were noted in the ATC repacking facility, thus giving no assurances that the products being repacked were of good quality.

He said ATC also violated the rules and regulations governing the labeling of prepackaged food products distributed in the country, since the products did not bear all mandatory information on the labels.

Go said the FDA field regulatory officers and regulatory enforcement agents had been ordered to confiscate the banned products found in the market.

“All local government units and law enforcement agencies were also requested to ensure that these products are not sold or offered for sale in their localities or area of jurisdiction,” he added.