BANGKOK, Jan 19 — Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has introduced three measures to strictly check apples from the United States and vowed to ban and recall substandard and hazardous products.
Dr Paisarn Dunkum, FDA deputy secretary-general, said his organization responded to the US Food and Drug Administration informing Thailand of its recall of Gala and Granny Smith apples under the brands Granny’s Best and Big B from the Bidart Bros Co.
The US FDA found that touches of the products could be fatal as they were involved in an epidemic of the listeriorsis disease that can harm newborns, pregnant women, the elderly and those with immune deficiency.
The FDA deputy secretary-general said that staff of the FDA’s Laem Chabang checkpoint were checking apples imported from the US. He said that the officials were implementing three measures to cope with the threat.
First, they block Gala and Granny Smith apples carrying the “Granny’s Best” and “Big B” brands from Bidart Bros and will send such products back to their point of origin. Second, officials collect samples of Gala and Granny Smith apples of other brands for examination at the Department of Medical Science. The FDA asks importers of such products to also suspend their sales pending the examination.
Then Thai FDA officials will collect samples of general apples from their checkpoints for examination for the sake of surveillance. The measure will also be conducted with provincial health officials at retail and wholesale markets nationwide for consumer protection.
Dr Paisarn said that the FDA would ban the import of any apples proving to harm consumers. (MCOT online news)
