NBI seizes fake flour, packaging in two Metro Manila cities

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15) — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confiscated more than a thousand sacks of fake flour bearing the brand of a local company in warehouses in Manila and Quezon City.

In a statement on Wednesday, Philippine Foremost Milling Corporation (PFMC)—one of the country’s biggest flour millers—said during the NBI’s raids on Monday, authorities seized over 1,100 sacks of counterfeit Washington Gold Hard Wheat Flour packed in polypropylene sack or cotton sack and 145 re-stitched and re-sacked original sacks containing different flour.

Washington Gold Hard Wheat Flour is a popular product of PFMC.

The flour miller said the caretaker of the Novaliches warehouse claimed the sacks were bought from Divisoria Market. The seller, however, was not identified.

Retailers involved in the raid may face charges following their alleged violation of Republic Act No. 8293 or the Trademark Infringement Act.

According to PFMC, its bakery customers earlier raised quality issues on its Washington Gold Hard Wheat Flour. After conducting an investigation, the company found that the flour delivered to them was fake.

“The supplier of these fake products clearly intended to cheat and deceive bakeries into believing that they were purchasing PFMC’s high-quality flour,” the firm said.