PIA Press Release
Wednesday, January 04, 2012

DOH warns against buying ‘expired’ goods

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Jan 4 (PIA) –- The Department of Health and the Foods and Drugs Administration exhorted the public to buy labeled canned goods, processed meat, and other food products only at reputable supermarkets, groceries, and wet markets to make sure they are not expired.

Dr. Sonia Cabahit of the FDA 8 warned the public to check the expiry dates of the food items they are buying to ensure that they are safe to eat.

"Expiry or expiration date" means the date stated on the label of food, drug, cosmetic, device or hazardous substance after which they are not expected to retain their claimed safety, efficacy, and quality or potency and after which it is no longer permissible to sell them, Dr. Cabahit said.

She said the public should also be wary of processed meat like frankfurters, hams, bacons, hotdogs, longganisa, tocino, tapa, and the like without any expiry labels.

Dr. Cabahit urged consumers not to patronize obscure and remote groceries and markets selling unlabelled products.

Even cakes and other bakery products must have expiry dates or labels with “best before” notices, Cabahit said as she called on the public to be more observant and be more aware of such labels.

“Food labels have date marks to tell us about the safe shelf life of foods. These date marks help us tell how long food can be kept before it begins to deteriorate,” Cabahit underscored.

All food with a shelf life of less than two years must be date marked. Many canned foods, such as baked beans, are not date marked because they are safe and keep their quality for over two years.

Best before date marking printed on the package of a low risk food product indicates the period during which it may be consumed if stored and consumed under appropriate conditions. Eating the food product after the date indicated, will be at the consumer’s own risk, Cabahit added.

‘Use By’ date marking printed on the label means foods must be eaten or thrown away by that date. After this date foods may be unsafe to eat even if they look fine because the nutrients in the food may become unstable or a build-up of bacteria may occur. It is illegal to sell foods after their USE BY date has expired. (PIA 8)