THE PHILIPPINE FOOD SAFETY

ACT OF 2013 or RA 10611

Food Industry Summit 2015
Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers,
Inc., September 25, 2015 .
EDSA Shangri-La Mandaluyong City

BY: Dr Alicia O. Lustre

Policy Adviser on SPS and
Key Person on Food Safety,
Department of Agriculture
The Food Safety Act

 A landmark legislation initiated by

the Department of Agriculture in
cooperation with the Department of
Health
The Need For Food
Safety Regulation

The market can detect spoiled food

but it cannot detect unsafe food.

Government has to step in and

protect the consumer through
regulation
For fresh foods for example, effective
regulations are needed;

 for ensuring the health of plants and

animals from where food is derived .

 preventing feeds, crop protection chemicals

and other production inputs to make
otherwise healthy plants and animals used
as food, unsafe.
For all foods, effective regulations are
needed for

 Control of environmental
contaminants, the use of food
additives.

 Hygiene and sanitation

 Prevention of mislabelling and

misbranding and of fraud and
adulteration
Food-borne Illness,
A Documented
Public Health Problem
 Food and water-borne diarrheal disease
kill 2.2 million people yearly, mostly
children in less developed countries
(WHO).

 In the US, 76 million cases of food-

borne illness with 5,000 deaths recorded
in 2008.
Food-borne Illness,
Regularly in the News
 Illness due to the consumption of
sprouts, melons, berries, deaths due to
adulteration of infant milk powder, and
pathogens in hamburgers, strong
association between cancer and mold
toxins in corn and peanuts.

 Fraud and adulteration, horsemeat in

ground meat, changing of “use-by
dates” on labels.
 Causes of Increasing
Incidence of Food-borne
Illness
• Globalization of the food trade
• Large scale food production
• Ageing population
• Changing food choices , changing
lifestyles
• A weak food supply chain infrastructure
• Poverty
The Need for a
Food Safety Act
Overlapping jurisdiction over regulatory
functions in government. Lack of
jurisdiction over others.

Absence of a framework that meets

international protocols for the development
of regulations and to which secondary
legislation must be harmonized.

Lack of a basic policy for a farm to fork

approach.
 Adopted by the 15th Congress on June 5,
2013

 Signed into law on August 29 2013

 Wrote and signed its Implementing Rules

and Regulations on February 20, 2015
THE PHILIPPINE
FOOD SAFETY
REGULATORY SYSTEM

IMPORTANT FEATURES
OF THE FOOD SAFETY ACT
(1) Makes the Food Business
Operator (eg.the farmer, trucker)
responsible for the safety of the food
handled.

• knowledgeable of the requirements of

their product for food safety

• implements the requirements of

government as well as their own for
controlling, preventing food safety
problems
(2) Makes the DA-DOH responsible
for developing and enforcing food
safety measures

(
EXAMPLES OF FOOD SAFETY
REGULATORY MEASURES
 Standards as maximum levels for
contaminants, pesticide residues, food
additives & others.
 Regulations for new ingredients eg.
mechanically deboned meat or newly
prohibited ingredients , as trans fats.
 Codes of Good Agriculture, Aquaculture ,
Animal Husbandry Practices
 Code of Food Hygiene .
 Regulations for food labelling
 Regulations against fraud and adulteration.
REQUIREMENTS FOR
FOOD SAFETY REGULATORY
MEASURES.

 Should be based on science

 Harmonized with Codex,* the OIE**
and other international standards.
 Should cover requirements over the
entire food supply chain, from farm to
fork .

*Codex ALimentarius Commission

**Organization Internationale Epizootics
Requirements for
testing and inspection in
the enforcement of
measures
Procedures for testing and inspection
should be internationally validated

Laboratories should be officially

certified and/or accredited
 (3) Makes the LGU’s
responsible for the ff:

 Sanitation in public markets, slaughterhouses,

small food establishments, public eating places

 Implementation of codes of practice

 Use of food additives

 Proper labelling
 (4) Delineates the food
safety responsibilities of the
DA, the DOH and the LGUs.
 The DA has jurisdiction over fresh and fresh-frozen
primary and postharvest foods.

 The DOH has jurisdiction over processed foods,

packaged or unpackaged.

 The LGUs are responsible for implementing the

Sanitation Code for all foods.

The am is to integrate, not to duplicate.

 Examples of DA regulated foods :
Fresh and frozen meat and fruits,
fresh milk, raw sugar, milled rice,
corn, fresh coconut, raw peanuts
and others

 Examples of DOH regulated

foods: Processed milk, canned
fish, hot dogs, juices and others.
The DA has nine (9) Food Safety
Regulatory Agencies and two
support agencies which are
commodity based .

The DOH has two Food Safety

Regulatory Agencies
Nine DA regulatory agencies.
Bureau of Animal Industry, National Meat
Inspection Service, National Dairy
Authority, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources, Bureau of Plant Industry,
Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, Sugar
Regulatory Administration, National Food
Authority, Philippine Coconut Authority

Two FDA regulatory agencies.

 The Center for Food Research and
Regulation
 The Bureau of Quarantine
(5) Creates a Food Safety
Regulation Coordinating Board
To establish the highest possible level of
coordination and collaboration between the DA,
DOH, LGUs . and other relevant government
agencies in order;.

 To integrate food safety systems

 Strengthen the management of crises,
 Cooperate in monitoring and surveillance,
 Ensure appropriate consumer education, training
and R&D.
The following are the members of the
Board:
 Heads of the DA Food Safety Regulatory
Agencies,
 Head of the FDA Center for Food
Regulation and Research,
 A DILG Director
 Heads of the Leagues of Barangays,
Municipalities, Cities
 A representative from DTI
 A representative from the DOST.
A representative from industry, may be
invited when needed.
(6) Calls for Engaging The
Local Government Units.

 in enforcement programs.

 In the conduct of joint monitoring and

surveillance

 In sharing expertise and opportunities for

training on food safety and its regulation.
.
(7) Requires That Key
Personnel are Educated,
Trained and/or Experienced. .

Aware of risk based approaches to

food safety control and regulation to
ensure cost-effectivity.

Knowlegeable of potential hazards in

the operations, that experience are
understood and measures adopted
lead to better ways for minimizing
illness
(8) Ensures the Safety of
Imported and Exported
Foods.
 Imported and exported food have
to comply with national regulations.

 New border control measures to be

prepared will require inspection
and clearance of imported foods by
the DA and the DOH prior to the
application of tariffs by customs.
(9) Provides for
Consumer Education,
Training and R&D.
(a) Consumers should be an active
participant in detecting fraud and in
making government aware of the
needs for better regulation.

(b) Food Business Operators must

be made aware of technologies for
compliance.
(10) Provides Penalties for
Violations
Provides penalties for violative acts
by both Food Business Operators
and government
IMPLEMENTING THE FOOD
SAFETY ACT
(a)For all involved, the FBOs and the
regulatory agencies, there must be a
constant search for knowledge from
experiences gained.
 The cause of an outbreak must be solved as
far as feasible.

 Growth in knowledge of microbiological

and chemical hazards and of consumption
patterns which change levels of exposure to
hazards should be pursued
(b) Hygienic measures should be
properly developed and strictly
implemented

 Keeping clean involves cost but can be

made cost effective .

There are no short cuts to cleanliness.

Live the codes of good practice
particularly on the use of clean water, the
right temperatures, proper storage and
avoiding cross contamination.

Nothing should be left to chance.

The CEO of the Peanut Corporation of America
was sentenced last week to 28 years in prison
for selling salmonella tainted food. which in
2008 killed 9 people and sickened 714 in 4
states in the US.

It is the harshest penalty eer for a corporate

executive in a food poisoning outbreak.

The salmonella came from a leaking water pipe

located on top of the peanut butter mixer.
(c) Strong cooperation between
government and industry

 Voluntary compliance and awareness by

industry

 Constant dialogue with government and

sharing of experiences and information.
Make what we do more effective,
efficient and better in controlling food
safety risks.

 Development of technologies for

compliance.
The Problem of Fraud
DEFINITION

The intentional adulteration and/or

mislabelling of a food for economic
gain.

Usually involves high-priced foods/

food products.
 WELL KNOWN EXAMPLES

 Use of horsemeat as beef

 Dilution of olive oil with other oils, of
good wine with inferior quality wine, of
new oil with reused frying oil
 Adulteration of milk powder with
detergent, of liquid milk with a high
nitrogen chemical,
 Changing Haddock with a cheaper
specie of fish
 Mixing colored ingredients with Saffron
REGULATORY PROVISIONS TO
ADDRESS FRAUD

 Mislabelling - Hard to police. Depends

on consumer reporting.

 Misbranding – contains a false or

misleading label.

 Adulteration - contains a poisonous

substance injurious to human health,
missing a valuable ingredient, or a
substittution or addition of ingredients.
 Controlling Fraud

Active participation of consumers and strong

support by government of consumer complaints

In the EU, application of penalties equivalent to

the extent of economic gain

A good auditing/certification body. The food

certification market is expected to reach 16 billion US
dollars in 2021.
Fraud and the Food
Safety Act
The successful control of fraud will
mean successful cooperation
between industry and government in
the implementation of the Food
Safety Act.

IT will also mean the existence of

good certification systems,as fraud is
essentially a failure of audit.
Food Safety and Food
Security
According to the FAO, food security
means food is
 Available

 Affordable

 And Safe

Lets keep this in mind!

THANK YOU