By Erwin M. Mascariñas
Correspondent .
Department of Tourism (DOT) Caraga is pushing for the full implementation of food inspection and grading system developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) here that was presented in a two day DOST caravan started Wednesday.
Dubbed as the Food Establishment and Inspection and Grading System (FEIGS), DOST-Caraga indicated that the research project started on March 2018 and to be finished by the end of 2019.
DOST pointed out that FEIGS aims in providing quality assurance that the food that were served are safe for human consumption and measure to prevent the occurrence of food borne illnesses due to unhygienic conditions and practices during food preparation and handling.
Siargao Island with its nine municipalities was chosen as the pilot test bed for the research project comprising of 53 food establishments throughout the island.
“Although the research project conducted by DOST is not yet finished, we are looking forward in pushing the local government units in the island for the full implementation of FEIGS. Food service must be properly addressed not only for big resorts and restaurants but the same measures must be followed by small establishments and eatery,” said DOT Caraga regional director Ana Nuguid.
Nuguid said that since Siargao is known all over Asia as a top tourist destination, it is essential that the proper implementation of the project should be a prime concern for the safety of the visitors in the island.
DOT Caraga also revealed that they are studying on adding FEIGS into the tourism accreditation for establishments not only for Siargao but for the entire region.
DOST Caraga regional director Dominga D. Mallonga said that a total of 774 food handlers and 37 sanitary inspectors had been trained since the start of the project with 24 restaurants, 23 eateries and six home stay that voluntarily participated in the process.
“We came up with FEIGS based on our Sanitation Code of the Philippines or Presidential Decree No. 856. With PD 856 we have percentage rating sanitation standards and color coding but we found out that there are gaps in the implementation, and that’s why DOST Caraga spearheaded this project and started with the research and development study which was inspired by a model and framework from Singapore,” said Mallonga.
Mallonga added that the output of the research and development study is a policy guide and a protocol for the implementation of FEIGS not only Caraga for the entire Philippines.
“We chose Siargao Island for the pilot as we have seen the influx of tourist in the island, we saw the need to protect the guests and the community. Food service establishments are encouraged to follow sanitation practices and adhere to food safety standards, rules and regulations, but we fear that this might be over looked with the spur of development of tourism infrastructure such as resorts, inns, restaurants and other food establishments in the island,” she said.
The research, development and implementation of the project in the pilot area got the cooperation with the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Food and Drug Administration (DFA), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
DOST-Caraga is hoping that LGU’s will create municipal ordinances in adopting FEIGS for proper implementation.
On July 11, 2015, the Department of Health in the Caraga declared a food poisoning outbreak in the region after around 1,900 people mostly children in the provinces of Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Agusan del Sur were hit by food poisoning from a durian candy. Hospitals across the Caraga Region were put into white alert in response to the poisoning incident.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) worldwide statistics on food poisoning, 600 million people or about 1 out of 10 get sick from food poisoning, from this about 420,000 people die each year. Food poisoning also causes more than 200 diseases and ailments, ranging from diarrhea to cancer.
