FDA-banned goods still sold in Pasay, group notes

A toxics watch group has urged the Pasay government to go after businessmen in the city selling products prohibited by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their toxic ingredients.

“Based on our on-the-spot market monitoring last Sunday, we saw several stores operating in discount malls that are selling FDA-banned products,” said EcoWaste Coalition Project Protect coordinator Thony Dizon.

He identified these malls as Victory Pasay City Mall and Wellcome Plaza in Libertad as well as the Baclaran LRT Plaza Mall, Bagong Milenyo Plaza Mall, Jinbao Super Center, Merwin Mart and Two Shopping Center in Baclaran.

Dizon said some of the stores in these malls sold skin whitening cosmetics, slimming products and insecticide that had tested positive for toxic contents.

“Among these prohibited goods were Golden Pearl Beauty Cream from Pakistan and variants of Jiaoli and S’zitang skin whitening cosmetics from China that the FDA had banned for containing mercury, a toxic metal that can cause damage to the brain and the central nervous system, the skin and the kidneys,” he added.

Dizon noted that the stores also sold slimming products like Brazilian Slimming Coffee, Leisure 18 Slimming Coffee and Leisure Burn Body Fat Orange Juice which were found to contain sibutramine, an ingredient which may increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Other banned products that were also available were insecticides like Baolillai, Big Bie Pai, Butiki, General Toad and Tianshi.

“We have already sent a [letter] to Pasay City Mayor Antonino Calixto to initiate immediate law enforcement operations to protect consumers from being deceived and harmed by their uninformed consumption of such banned products,” Dizon said.

He added that they also asked Calixto to meet with mall managers to remind them that selling the FDA-banned products is against the law.