UNREGISTERED. The Food and Drug Administration Philippines issued an advisory on July 15, warning the public not to purchase and consume Bongbong’s special piaya for lack of certificate of product registration. As of Monday (July 19, 2021), BongBong’s management said in a statement that “it is currently processing the reapplication”. (Photo courtesy of BongBong’s Piaya and Barquillos Facebook page)
BACOLOD CITY – The management of popular Bacolod delicacies store BongBong’s Piaya and Barquillos said action has been taken to address the issue on the non-registration of its special piaya product.
On July 15, the Food and Drug Administration Philippines (FDA) issued an advisory warning the public not to purchase and consume five food products, including two made in this city – BongBong’s special piaya and BongBong’s polvoron small.
As of Monday, the BongBong Villan Corp. said in a statement posted on its official Facebook page that “it is currently processing the reapplication for the DFA-Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) of BongBong’s original/plain piaya”.
“(We have) addressed the technical issue pointed out by the FDA,” it added.
According to the FDA, it has verified through online monitoring or post-marketing surveillance that these food products are unregistered and no corresponding CPRs have been issued to the manufacturers.
“Since these unregistered food products have not gone through an evaluation process of the FDA, the agency cannot assure its quality and safety,” the agency said in the advisory.
The FDA also warned all concerned establishments “not to distribute, advertise, or sell the said violative food products until CPR(s) are issued, otherwise, regulatory actions and sanctions shall be strictly pursued”.
In its statement, BongBong’s Piaya and Barquillos said that they “acknowledged” that the staff tasked to monitor business-related documents such as the company’s application for FDA-CPR for the original/plain piaya, or the special piaya referred to by the FDA, “committed some lapses in monitoring our application, which eventually led to its non-registration”.
“In the letter of denial received by BongBong’s from the FDA, it was revealed that the reason for the denial was technicalities and not the safety of the product,” it said, adding that its application for ube piaya was already approved and was issued the FDA-CPR.
BongBong’s added that its original/plain piaya is “safe for public consumption” although it did not mention the status of the “polvoron small” in the statement.
“We also assure our customers and patrons that such lapses in monitoring our FDA-CPR applications and other similar business-related requirements will not happen again,” it added.
Piaya is an unleavened flatbread filled with muscovado or partially refined dark brown-colored sugar and is a famous delicacy in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.
BongBong’s manufacturing plant is based in Barangay Alijis in this city, and it has several branches in Bacolod and Negros Occidental as well as Panay and other areas in the country. (PNA)
