Recalled canned tuna sent for FDA checking - DSWD

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 9) — Samples of the canned tuna reported to be unsafe for consumption have been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for testing, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Tuesday.

"Currently, we have already submitted samples to the FDA to be checked for contamination. And all areas that we got complaints, we got samples to check whether these are contaminated samples," DSWD assistant secretary Irene Bungay-Dumlao told a House hearing.

The supposedly spoiled tuna was included in family food packs (FFP) distributed to residents affected by the oil spill in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.

On Sunday, the DSWD ordered the recall and replacement of the canned tuna, though it noted that they were "not expired."

READ: DSWD orders recall, replacement of relief items due to recipients' complaints 

Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito Dolor also defended the DSWD from critics, saying the distributed food items were not rotten, spoiled, expired or unsafe for consumption.

"Maaaring hindi ito ang panlasa sa ilan naming mga kababayan, pero we do not share the sentiment na ito'y bulok, sira o expired. I will stand by my statement," Dolor told reporters on Monday.

[Translation: The tuna may not suit the taste of some of our countrymen, but we do not share the sentiment that they are rotten, spoiled or expired.]