Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas sent government teams to grocery stores nationwide to search for imported sauces, which British health authorities say contain high levels of chemicals that cause cancer if taken daily, Reuters reports. Roxas said in a statement that the aim of the retail survey was to assist the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) in getting samples from the market for testing and to advise local communities to avoid the use of the imported sauces. The BFAD would likely submit results of its own tests in about a week, he said. Roxas earlier issued a consumers' alert after receiving reports that the Food Standards Agency of the United Kingdom issued a warning on 22 soy sauce or soy-based products believed to contain high levels of 3-MCPD, a chemical which causes cancer if taken daily, from China, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore. "Pending the results (of the tests), Roxas considered it best to advise consumers about the risks involved in using these brands...on a daily basis over a long period of time," the department said in a separate statement. Last month, Australia and New Zealand joined Britain in warning consumers against the products.
