Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese military junta authorities have started inspecting food and soft drinks in Burma, to check whether they are tainted with a chemical dye, which is dangerous for health of the people.
This latest move was initiated after the authorities banned over 100 brands of pickled tea leaves for using a banned chemical dye, 'Auramine O'. The authorities also recently, banned two alternative medicines for the high content of lead and arsenic in the products.
"We are inspecting all products, including soft drinks, fish paste, dried fish etc. We are inspecting soft drinks of domestic-make found in the market. Some of them are officially permitted brands," Chairman of 'Food and Drug Administration' (FDA), Dr. Kyaw Lin, told Mizzima.
"We have already tested samples of these soft drinks before production. But, the market survey is more important, so we are focusing on the market survey. We inspected all the brands, so as not to leave anything untested," he added.
The brands of domestically produced soft drinks are Scorpion, C +, Ve Ve, Max, Stan Crusher produced by Myanmar Golden Star (MGS), Pepsi, Sparking and Fantasy Orange among others.
A reliable source from Scorpion Soft Drink Trading and Distribution said that they had not yet received any notice from the department concerned, and they were distributing their products as usual to their customers.
"Scorpion is not yet included in the list of banned products. I do not know whether other brands are included in this list or not. So, we are continuing our sale to the customer companies. The buyers are still buying our products. We have not yet heard any significant news regarding it. We must inform our company, when we hear such news as we are agents for them. The ban order must be made public officially in newspapers," he said.
They buy these products from Pholapye Co. in wholesale and redistribute them.
The officials from the Health Department have not yet visited Pholapye Co. and have not yet banned their products, he added.
It has been learnt that local food and drug administration committees have been formed in each township.
The committee consists of a Township Medical Officer, a Township Health Department Officer, and responsible persons from the municipal body, police force, General Administration Department and Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department.
"These committees are in every township. They will inspect all the products, banned by the government as unfit for consumption in Burma, and recall these products from the shelves and destroy them in the presence of the shop owners. They can also inform about putting these products in the market again, depending on how much they are working," Dr. Kyaw Lin said.
It has also been learnt that no new rules and regulations have been announced yet and these tainted products will be removed in accordance with the existing National Food and Drug Law.
"They will know our Burma Food and Drug Administration regime in this way. We do not need to issue any new regulations. These regulations and rules are already in existence. We need to take action in accordance with them, such as the National Food and Drug Law. We will continue to enforce this law," Dr. Kyaw Lin said.
In today's edition of the state-run 'New Light of Myanmar', it has been reported that in a forum held in Rangoon, Liver Disease specialist, Professor Dr. Khin Maung Win, said that it had been found meat, fish and dried shrimps were tainted with chemical dyes for preservation and to artificially seem fresh. And also the salt found in the market was bleached with chemicals to whiten the product, which is originally brown, he added.
Fruits such as apples, grapes, papaya and watermelon were also dyed with chemicals to make them colourful and attractive to the customers. These banned chemicals, were also found in some snacks such as tea, roasted peanuts, cakes, phaluda and plums, the paper reported citing Dr. Khin Maung Win.
The state-run papers also explicitly announced on March 12 and March 29, that the Ministry of Health had banned 43 pickled tea leaf brands, including famous 'Ahyeetaung' and other 57 brands of pickled tea leaves for being tainted with the banned chemical dye called 'Auramine O'.
'Auramine O' is the industrial chemical dye usually used in dyeing of yarn, wool, silk, paper and hides, which may cause liver and renal diseases, cancer and may also affect the growth of the body if it is consumed for a long time.
