TOP government scientists from the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD), the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and the University of the Philippines System met Wednesday with leaders of consumer groups to discuss food labeling policies, particularly on biotechnology products.

Dr. Oscar Gutierrez, head of BFAD-Experimental Animal House Laboratory Services Division, Dr. Vivencio Mamaril, an agriculturist in the BPI-Biotech Core Group and Dr. Nina Barzaga, director of the Institute of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology and the National Institute of Health at UP-Manila assured consumer groups that government maintains the strictest rules as far as food labeling is concerned, and perhaps these rules are as stringent as those followed by Western countries.

Gutierrez told leaders of the Consumers Union of the Philippines (CUP), Nationwide Association of Consumers, Inc. (NACI) , Coalition for Consumer Protection and Welfare and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) during the round table discussion at Annabel's Restaurant in Morato Ave., Quezon City that the BFAD has been constantly inspecting and testing food products to ensure that all processed food entering the market are safe for human consumption and poses absolutely no health or environmental risks.

Leaders of the Daop Palad Women's Organization of Quezon City, Red Square, Millennium Ladies of Pateros and the Sabantep Women's Organization of Caloocan and the Barangay Health Workers Association also participated in the discussion.

Gutierrez added that BFAD has crafted an administrative order covering standards for biotechnology products and all processed food containing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).

Unless the GMOs are approved for commercial use by food processors in the Philippines, food products containing them run the risk of being rejected. All imported products containing GMOs must comply with the rules on full disclosure of the GMOs, and must state whether the DNA or resulting protein continues to exist in the processed food.

Food products that are not allowed for commercial release by the BFAF, the applicant is compelled to show whether the health risks posed by the product is substantially equivalent to those in its conventional counterpart.

BFAD, Gutierrez added, also evaluates and verifies the disclosures of applicants, examines the food products and determines whether they follow the prescribed standards for safety and quality.

Meanwhile, Mamaril stressed that BPI is engaged in determining the nutritive qualities of food products as well and is part of the group that ensures that no health risks are presented by processed food marketed in the country.

He said non-GM food may also apply for voluntary negative labeling and identify the preservation documents to support his claim, along with an affidavit which ensures that the food is not excluded from the coverage of voluntary labeling.

Barzaga, a medical doctor, said the regulatory system strictly enforced by the National Biosafety Committee of the Philippines was even cited by the European Union as "at par" with their own biosafety regulatory system.

After this process, the BFAD evaluates the food product and determines whether there are commercially available GM counterparts in the Philippines and elsewhere. (Jose Galvez, BMARC Contact #: 0920-5067524).