By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat

Local food manufacturers are asking the government to harmonize standards on products that can and cannot be sold within 100 meters of schools as different local government units are starting to ban the sale of sweetened foods in schools to the confusion of manufacturers and vendors.

Ernesto S. Mascenon, senior vice president of the Nestlé Philippines, Inc., said this will be formalized by the Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers, Inc., which will submit its request to Senate President Tito Sotto, who in turn promised to refer it to the health and trade committees to harmonize the standards on foods products that can be sold in schools.

Mascenon noted that the Department of Education has issued a circular on what food products can be sold in schools, but Quezon City also issued its own circular with tougher standards against “junk foods.” He lamented that there is no definition of junk foods.

Pasig also issued a similar ordinance. Other cities such as Cebu, Davao, Muntinlupa and two more cities are issuing similar ordinances.

Mascenon said there has been some confusion because establishments, particularly 7-Eleven, within 100 meters of schooIs, have already written them about the issue of their sweetened milk products which the local government units have asked to be removed from their shelves.

He said that would agree to having common standards which are clear and harmonized to avoid different standards.

The Food Chamber first raised its concern to President Duterte asking his office to take the lead in harmonizing the food standards or else the food industry will be thrown into confusion. The Office of the President immediately responded and forwarded its concern to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez already said there is a need to file a bill for standards harmonization because the local government units have indeed an authority over what foods can be sold in schools. Thus, they raised the issue with Senate President Sotto.

In March last year, the DepEd released an order signed by Education Secretary Leonor Briones that details new guidelines for public school canteens, which private schools are encouraged to adopt. The reason behind the order cites the latest National Nutrition Survey from 2014 where 29.1 percent of children aged 5 to 10 years old are underweight, 29.9 percent are stunted, 9.1 percent are overweight, and 8.6 percent has low weight for his height.

To implement the order, DepEd is categorizing foods by color. Foods in the GREEN category should always be available in the canteen, YELLOW are for foods that should be served sparingly, and RED is for foods not to sell in the canteen. The nutrition label found on the back of food packages serves as a guide in categorizing food.