The Bureau of Customs (BOC) intercepted a shipment of 25 metric tons of smuggled onions at a Mindanao port, which the Department of Agriculture (DA) will destroy after samples were found with Escherichia coli or E. coli bacteria.
These onions are unfit for human consumption, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. declared, as ingesting food tainted with E. coli can lead to severe gastrointestinal illness—which may become life-threatening.
Moreover, according to the BOC’s regulations, the proper course of action upon discovering contaminated perishable goods should either be to destroy them, return them to the sender, or ship them to another country.
“The presence of E. coli at borderline indicates possible fecal contamination, often associated with poor sanitary conditions during handling and post-harvest practices, and may pose potential health risks if not addressed,” the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) said in its report to Tiu Laurel.
“Should this be distributed to consumers, there will be a possible increased growth which may increase health risk to consumers especially when eaten raw and uncooked,” the agency warned.
The shipment, misdeclared as processed foods, arrived at the Mindanao International Container Terminal from China on May 26. Its consignee is a Binondo, Manila-based company, Latinx Consumer Goods Trading Inc., reported RH 5 Val Gonzales.
The consignee has already been charged for its ₱2 million-worth illegal shipment. Under Republic Act 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, the smuggler will be subject to a lifetime sentence on top of a fine double the price of the confiscated goods.
Previously, six container vans of onions and frozen fish at the Port of Manila were discovered to have been misdeclared, prompting the DA to request the BOC to block 59 container vans at Subic Bay believed to contain more smuggled agricultural goods.
