BAGUIO CITY — After ridding the city of the practice of selling mislabeled “Sagada” oranges, the City Government of Baguio vows to stop the peddling of adulterated honey said to be prevalent at the city market and other areas in the city.
Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong directed the City Permits and Licensing, Public Order and Safety and Market divisions and the Baguio City Police Office to go after sellers of diluted honey being passed on as the pure kind. The city will enlist the help of the Food and Drugs Administration which has the authority and technical know-how to distinguish between the pure and the adulterated kinds.
The mayor said a beekeepers group had aired concern and appealed for intervention to stop the open and widespread sale of such products during the recent first consultation with the agriculture sector this month. The group representative said they produce only the pure kind and use their own original containers when these are sold to the public while those who sell adulterated honey usually put these in recycled containers of other products like gin bottles and others.
Earlier, the City of Baguio acted on complaints on the selling and peddling of “Sagada Oranges” which are actually oranges coming from China. Such oranges are being sold at the Baguio City Public Market and moreover at the tourist sites of the city and were being labeled as oranges from the popular tourist destination of Sagada, Mountain Province for a long period of time.
The mayor of Sagada even held a press briefing in Baguio City to show the authentic oranges of their town.
Meanwhile, the City Veterinary and Agriculture Office asked the city council to come up with a legislation that would regulate and ensure that honey being sold in the city is 100 percent pure and not mixed with sugar and penalize those engaged in the unfair trade practice.