DTI to Consumers: Be Guided on Food and Medicine Expiration

Dagupan City (PIA) – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said consumers should pay attention to the shelf-life of consummable products especially medicines which are indicated on their packaging.

Labels such as “consume before” and “best before” indicated in pre-packaged food products, drugs and medicines are mandated under the Consumer Act of the Philippines, according to DTI.

This serves as a guide to consumers whether the product is safe to use or not or when it has full potency or curative effect.

Peter Mangabat, provincial director of the DTI-Pangasinan, said products with markings such as ‘consume before’, ‘use by’, or ‘expiration’ date that signifies the estimated shelf-life of a product under a stated storage condition should be regarded as not marketable after the indicated date because certain quality features become significantly impaired.

Mangabat added goods labelled with ‘best before’ or ‘best use by’ shows the end period under a stated storage condition after which certain quality may be expected to deteriorate.

He said the product may still be satisfactory for human consumption after this date but its best quality may no longer be guaranteed by the manufacturers.

However, retailers in the province were instructed to remove products that violate the open-date markings required by Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to avoid payment of fines and imprisonment imposed on mislabelling. (MCA/EMBS/PIA-1, Pangasinan/DTI)