QuestionsQuestions (BFAD MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 1 s. 1985)
It prohibits the offering for sale, sale, or distribution of glacial acetic acid as vinegar or for vinegar manufacture, by importers, distributors, sellers, purchasers, and others concerned.
Republic Act No. 1929.
The offender is subject to the applicable penalties provided in R.A. 1929.
It authorizes the FDA/BFAD to promulgate regulations establishing for any food a reasonable definition and standard of identity and quality, consistent with the food’s common or usual name.
It prohibits the sale and manufacture of adulterated and misbranded food and food products, with corresponding penalties.
Vinegar is defined as the liquid produced by alcoholic and/or acetous fermentation of one or more of the following: malt, spirit, wine, cider, alcoholic liquors, fruits, grain, vegetables, honey glucose, sugar (including unrefined crystal sugar and refinery syrup) or molasses.
Because the regulated definition/standard of vinegar under existing regulations is tied to fermentation of specified raw materials; glacial acetic acid is not offered for sale as vinegar or for vinegar manufacture under the memorandum’s prohibition.
Importers, distributors, sellers, purchasers, and others concerned.
It states the Bureau of Food & Drugs will impose regulatory sanctions it may deem necessary to protect the interest of the consumer.
It indicates that the order was reissued/renewed for continued enforcement after the initial adoption date (27 Sept. 1985), keeping the prohibition operative under the BFAD/Bureau’s regulatory framework.
Catalina C. Sanchez, Director.
R.A. 3720 authorizes the FDA/BFAD to promulgate standards of identity and quality for foods; the memorandum relies on those standards of identity—specifically those for vinegar—to justify prohibiting glacial acetic acid as vinegar.
The prohibition can be anchored on R.A. 1929 (penalties for selling acetic acid in food retail contexts) and R.A. 3720 (standards of identity/quality and rules against misbranding/adulteration), as implemented through the vinegar standards and the BFAD memorandum order.