A
proposed Food Safety Ordinance that will ensure the safety of street foods in
Davao remains buried in the records of the City Council despite a 2011 study
which found out that only 10% of streets foods here are safe for consumption
while the rest contained pathogenic bacteria.
The
said study (which also included Cagayan de Oro and Laguna) was conducted by the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Centre for International
Migration and Development (CIM) in 2011 to find ways to improve the sector.
“The
last time I heard, the proposed ordinance has undergone first reading in the
council under councilor (Bernard) Al-Ag who was then the chair of the Committee
on Health,” Food and Drug Administration (FDA) XI Regulatory Officer Arnold G.
Alindada said. However, the committee heads for the 17th City
Council changed with the Health Committee now under Councilor Joselle
Villafuerte.
“I
have just talked with councilor Villafuerte and she said she will pull it out,
study it again and will push for its approval,” Mr. Alindada said.
Once
passed, the Food Safety Ordinance will appropriate a specific budget for the
training of sanitary inspectors. While the FDA has jurisdiction only over
processed food products and not ready-to-serve food from restaurants and
caterers, Mr. Alindada said they are pushing for the approval of the Food
Safety Ordinance.
Robert
L. Oconer, Chief of the Davao City Environmental Sanitation Office, said he has
recommended for the removal of food, fruits and other vendors even before
election (May 2013) but both Mayors (former Mayor Sara Z. Duterte and Mayor
Rodrigo R. Duterte) instructed him to just let them be for as long as they are
regulated.
He
said they conduct a quarterly education of vendors and are proud that they have
followed the rules in terms of wearing hairnets, personal hygiene and complied
with the procurement of health certificates.
“Even
before the study was made we were already monitoring the food vendors making
sure that they comply with the sanitation requirement,” he said. Mr. Oconer
said that in his 21 years as a sanitation officer, he has never received a
complaint about the food vendors in the city.
But
sans the Food Safety Ordinance, Mr. Oconer has issued this warning to all those
buying and eating street foods “eat at your own risk.”
Former
DOST XI Regional Director and now RECORD Foundation Managing Director Ma. Delia
M. Morados said she looks forward to the day when Davao’s street foods will
have the same high-level of sanitation comparable to HongKong and Malaysia. She
said it would be great to see all the street food vendors gathered in an air
conditioned place where the sanitation officers can inspect them regularly.
