The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will submit samples of the questioned Ocean’s Best Tuna to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which will act as the third party that will determine whether the canned tuna is safe for the consumption of DSWD beneficiaries.

This was one of the recommendations by the Fact-Finding Board after meeting with the representatives of the two suppliers of Ocean’s Best Tuna, which is one of the food items in the DSWD’s Family Food Packs (FFPs).

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Saturday (May 6) ordered the creation of a Fact-Finding Board after the DSWD Field Office-MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) submitted a report Friday (May 5) that confirmed reports that several beneficiaries in Oriental Mindoro have complained about the quality of Ocean’s Best Tuna.

Initial feedback gathered by the FO-MIMAROPA indicated several complaints against Ocean’s Best Tuna from DSWD beneficiaries from the City of Calapan and the municipalities of Naujan, Bulalacao and Roxas.

Based on the May 5 report of FO MIMAROPA, the complaints range from having “unacceptable and unusual taste” to being “unpalatable” and “smells like rotten eggs.”

The representatives of the two suppliers were told by the Fact-Finding Board that the DSWD will write the FDA a letter and will send them samples of the canned tuna flakes taken from the pre-positioned FFPs in Calapan City and the three municipalities mention in the report.

“The DSWD will wait for the results of the FDA tests as this will determine objectively and scientifically whether the questioned canned tuna flakes is really safe for the consumption of the beneficiaries or not,” Asst. Secretary Lopez, who also acts as DSWD spokesperson, said.

“Until we have the full report of the FDA, we cannot categorically say if the complaints were due to taste preference or there is really contamination in the cans of Ocean’s Best Tuna,” Asst. Secretary Lopez said.

During the Fact-Finding meeting, it was pointed out that the DSWD’s stockpile of canned tuna were not expired as samples of the canned goods showed that its expiration is in 2025, or a good two years from the present year.

“The FDA test will also determine if the expiration date stamped on the cans really correspond to the state and quality of the tuna flakes inside cans,” Asst. Secretary Lopez pointed out.

The DSWD spokesperson said that in the event that the FDA test result is adverse to Ocean’s Best Tuna, the Department has a wide range of options that include the replacement of the whole lot by the suppliers and other sanctions such as withholding of payment and even blacklisting from the list of accredited suppliers.#