HE Department of Agriculture (DA) concluded on Monday that smuggled pork products tainted with African swine fever (ASF) caused the introduction of the fatal hog disease in the Philippines.
The DA issued the pronouncement after latest laboratory tests on seized smuggled pork products, this time from China, tested positive for ASF virus.
The DA pointed out that these recent laboratory results confirm its earlier hypothesis that smuggled pork products—making their way to backyard hog farms as swill—caused the spread of ASF.
“This is really our biggest problem. The introduction of ASF came from meat, pork and pork products that are infected already. The products we have seized and tested positive for ASF confirms our earlier hypothesis that ASF came from other country,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a press briefing on Monday.
“This concludes really that [ASF] has been introduced [in the country] by bringing it here through smuggled [ASF-infected] products,” Dar added.
The DA revealed on Monday that the recently seized Chinese pork products, declared as tomato paste and vermicelli, tested positive for ASF.
Industry stakeholders like the Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita) earlier sounded the alarm that ASF could have entered the country through smuggled pork products from affected countries, like China.
The government earlier ordered a total recall of MaLing canned pork earlier this year since the pork products from ASF-hit China are banned from entering the country.
“Our hypothesis is that ASF came from food waste from hotels and restaurants that were dumped in Rodriguez, Rizal, and were eventually collected and sold as swill to hog farms. The root cause of that are smuggled items,” Dar said.
Skinless longganisa, Picnic hot dogs
In a related development, the DA also confirmed that some pork-based processed meat products of Mekeni Food Corp. (Mekeni), specifically longganisa and Picnic hot dogs, tested positive for ASF virus after the department conducted thorough laboratory tests.
The DA said three laboratory tests, including two confirmatory tests requested by Mekeni, on skinless longganisa and Picnic hot dogs yielded positive results for ASF virus.
However, raw materials collected by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) from Mekeni, which were fresh frozen imported meat from Canada, US and France, were negative for ASF.
The DA said it finally decided to disclose the brand and company behind the concerned products “to end consumers’ speculations that may have untoward effect on all other processed pork products to the detriment of other meat processors.”
Bureau of Animal Industry OIC-Director Ronnie D. Domingo said the DA and the Department of Health have formed a composite team to do further investigation to determine the source of the ASF-positive meat used by Mekeni.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) OIC-Director General Eric Domingo said they wrote to Mekeni to explain how the ASF virus infiltrated its production line since government inspections showed that the meat processor has complete documents from authorities. The FDA, under the Food Safety Act of 2013, oversees the trade of processsed meat products.
“Obviously, there’s something wrong because there are ASF-positive products. Depending on our findings, if there is wrongdoing, then they will face administrative case before the FDA which could lead to possible revocation of their license to operate,” Domingo said.
Commended
Nonetheless, the DA and the FDA commended Mekeni for its voluntary total recall of its pork-based products from the market. The Pampanga-based meat processor was asked by the FDA to submit its recall plan to ensure proper disposal of the products.
Further, the FDA encouraged consumers to return their Mekeni pork products from where they bought them and they will get a refund in doing so.
In a statement, Mekeni said it was “unfortunate” that despite its compliance with regulatory protocols, some of their products were found to have DNA traces of ASF.
Mekeni said it has suspended the operations for its pork-based products since October 26, with its facility beaing cleansed and disinfected. It tapped a third-party company to conduct swabbing and testing of the facility before it resumes operations.
“Despite this unfortunate development, we assure government that we will continue to cooperate in its ongoing investigation to determine the source of ASF. We will also actively support the review of current protocols on issuing certifications for both local and imported raw meats,” the firm said.
“While only specific batches were found to have DNA traces of ASF, all of our pork-based products have already been pulled out from our selling areas when we initiated a voluntary recall last October 26, 2019. These products are currently quarantined and a batch sampling has been submitted to an independent laboratory for ASF testing. We are still waiting for the results of these tests,” it added.
The ASF is not harmful to humans but fatal to hogs.