The Agriculture Department thanks the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) for conducting a scientific study on the use of synthetic acetic acid in producing a sour condiment passed off as “suka.”
In any language, the synthetic acetic acid marketed commercially as “vinegar” is not only an adulterated product but a serious case of product misrepresentation punishable under our Consumer Protection laws.
It is the stand of the DA through its Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS) that vinegar is “a sour-tasting liquid containing acetic acid, obtained through a fermentation process using natural agricultural products.”
Any product that does not go through the natural fermentation process to attain the sour taste should not and must not be classified as vinegar.
Notwithstanding the alleged health risks posed by synthetic acetic acid, the processing and marketing of cheap sour condiments using “non-biogenic” materials from fossil fuel also robbed the Filipino vinegar farmers a decent source of income.
For generations, the production of natural vinegar from Coconut and Nipa sap (and now Coconut Water), Sugarcane Juice, Bignay and other sour fruits has been the source of income of poor farmers.
Greed and insensitivity to the health and welfare of consumers, however, led to the concoction of a sour condiment using synthetic materials which is now being passed off as “vinegar.”
It also deprived the Filipino farmers of access to a multi-million market for “suka” or sour condiment which is part of the daily food requirements of every Filipino family.
In compliance with the desire of President Rody Duterte to protect and promote the well-being of the Filipino people, the DA calls on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to immediately act on the findings of the DOST-PNRI.
The list of vinegar brands using synthetic acetic acid must be made known to the public and with the recent pronouncement of the new FDA Director General Rolando Enrique Domingo defining these products as adulterated and fake, an order to pull these products out of the market must be issued immediately.
The FDA Memorandum is needed so that the Department of Trade and Industry through its Consumer Protection Office could perform its mandate of protecting consumers.
Transparency and immediate action on the pleas and woes of our people are the hallmarks of the Duterte Administration.
We have to act fast and now!
(The statement was taken from the Official Facebook Page of DA Secretary Manny Piñol)
