DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 28 July) – The city’s Business Bureau is set to submit a list of establishments here that have been issued with mayor’s permits to Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) XI this week, following the food poisoning incident earlier this month that downed close to 2,000 victims, mostly children in Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur.
Maribel T. Paguican, the bureau’s assistant division chief, told reporters Tuesday that the list has been requested to see who among the registered businesses have no licenses from the FDA XI.
On Monday, the FDA XI furnished a list of categories of the businesses from which the Business Bureau is to fill in with names of the registered establishments based on its database before submitting it back for checking if they have complied with the requirements.
The checklist that FDA XI requires the Business Bureau to submit includes drug outlets, manufacturers/processors, distributors, and traders.
Should FDA XI find out that the establishments are non-compliant, they will recommend to the bureau that they be blacklisted and will not be allowed to renew licenses, lest they comply with the requirements of the FDA.
“They will notify us so that we can block in our system in preparation for the next renewal,” she said.
The FDA XI accreditation is not a requirement to secure a mayor’s permit. The permit, meanwhile, is in the checklist of the FDA before it clears any establishment as compliant.
Recently, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte encouraged all street vendors who sell food to undergo training on proper food handling after the Davao City-based Wendy’s Delicious Durian allegedly poisoned close to 2,000 kids. Laboratory results conducted by FDA XI confirmed that food samples tested for staphylococcus aureus.
An inspection team found out that the manufacturing site of Wendy’s is non-compliant with the good manufacturing practices for lack of a functioning water system.
The agency also confiscated a total 204 packs of candies, with each pack having 100 pieces, and ordered the owner to pull out the products from the market.
