Would the current melamine scare have an impact on the ordinary pinoy farmer? Probably not. What is featured in television about dairy farmers in Central Luzon experiencing high demand for their produce is only temporary. We have to realize that we Filipinos are not dairy lovers. Most of us are lactose intolerant and most of us only consume milk by products in little amounts. There is only a small segment of our population that regularly consumes milk. These are mostly the very young and the very old.
Chinese melamine plates with animal prints.
Would it have an impact on the ordinary pinoy's spending habit? It would definitely have an effect on the middle and upper class market; those that are educated and are descriminating. For the bottom part of the "tatsulok", that's the economic triangle, it would not have an impact at all. The upper class people have a choice so they may skip some brands that they suspect have China-made ingredients, but the poor would not have a choice. They would still buy from Divisoria the unbranded/generic dairy products because it's cheaper there. And of course Divisoria products are also brought in to provinces by the probinsyano traders. Dairy by-product manufacturers wouldn't have a choice either because of cost. Do you think your local polvoron maker would ensure that their raw materials are BFAD certified?
Speaking of BFAD, last month I was able to attend a seminar on their licensing procedures like how to acquire a license to operate and on good manufacturing procedures. It was in Cavite and there are a lot of attendees mainly OTOP manufacturers. Otop is a government program initiated by DTI that develops a product for each town. Many of them are cooperatives, with their products and production processes not yet inspected and licensed by the government. They're having difficulty in marketing since most supermarket, like SM, would not accept their products. This is bad for the producer but I think that it's very good for the consumer because somehow we would be protected. What worries me is that most supermarket like SM readily accept imported products but restricts local products. Would the consumer know if Bonus products, the low-cost products sold in SM, are made in China or the has ingredients from China? We won't know of course unless they disclose.
So, what can be done by a simple pinoy to be protected? First is to produce your own. I saw a TV advertisement that promotes raising animals in your backyard. (But would you know if your feeds is also tainted with melamine? Would your neighbors allow you to have animals in your backyard? Labo ng gobyerno!) If you can't produce your own needs, when your buying, look for the NMIS and BFAD permit of the product or of the manufacturer. Although it doesn't guarantee 100% safety at least it's reassuring. If still in doubt, only buy halal certified foodstuffs, they probably have a stricter enforcement.
*Melamine is also an adulterant in animal feed raw materials. It is used to increase crude protein because of its N.