Besides, the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) has also included in its regulations a new requirement for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for products applying for BFAD registration. EU itself also requires several other guarantees including EUREGAP, ISO 9000, ISO 14000, BRC standard or the European Food Safety Inspection Safety Standard and the Food Safety Management 22000.

Hazards could be biological (bacterial, viral, parasitic agents) like salmonella, Hepatitis A, and entamoeba; chemical (naturally-occurring or added agents (mycotoxins, pesticides, prohibited substances).

HACCP requires prevention of food adulteration through certain procedures: pest control in plant grounds and building facilities, personal hygiene, storage, warehousing designs, handling of raw materials, food products, work areas, and equipment.

Critical control points are processing steps where elimination of a hazard is applicable such as pasteurization and freezing of coconut milk in the prevention of pathogen formation. Critical limits are values that should be achieved to prevent health risks such as a minimum of 93 degree Celsius pasteurization temperature for four to five minutes to eliminate salmonella.

A HACCP plan requires records for ingredients, inventory, storage conditions, shelf life, monitoring activity, list of names of a HACCP team; and verification process.

One HACCP prerequisite is the proper design, construction and maintenance of buildings (including roads, drainage, product flow, sanitary facilities, water/ice/steam quality) so as to prevent food contamination. Anther prerequisite is transportation including raw materials, ingredients, livestock, packaging materials, returned finished product, food and non-food chemicals.

"The objective of a recall program is to ensure that once a food has been identified as unsafe, it is rapidly and efficiently removed from the marketplace," PCA said.

For frozen coconut milk, list of products/materials include 11 to 12 months matured coconut, potable water, and white plastic drum with lid, labeled, and 10-kilo capacity packaging material and food-grade plastic bag. Its process flow includes deshelling of nuts, paring of meat, washing with chlorine solution, grinding, pressing and filtration at 80 mesh, pasteurization at 75 degrees celcius for 20 minutes, cooking, filling and sealing, blast freezing at -35 degrees celcius and casing and storage at -15 degrees Celsius.

Its hazards are harmful bacteria/virus-- salmonella, E coli, bacillus cereus-- in matured nuts and pared meat at harvesting level ad receiving/storage. During the process, hazards are in receipt of dehusked nuts from traders which may include cracked nuts with salmonella, E coli; paring of meat from improper worker sanitation, tools, and contact surfaces; inadequate pasteurization; improper cooling temperature; contaminated packaging damaged by rats/insects; and inadequate freezer cleaning.

Other physical hazards in frozen coconut milk are stones in dehusked nuts at farm level; chipped shells, metal chips from paring knives; and plastic chips and insect parts during packaging.

For buko drink which has a P207 million market in Metro Manila alone, HACCP requirement includes a "kill step" for pathogens (infectious agents) including handwashing with footbath of workers so as to clean processing area; coconut meat washing; personnel hygiene, and installation of clean fomites.

HACCP product description of buko juice includes an appearance, taste and aroma of a young coconut aged six to nine months, packaging on food-grade PET bottles; shelf life of seven days; labeling of chilling temperature below four degrees Celsius, expiry date, distribution control (such as delivery with ice coolers and in refrigerated vans) and disposal advice for empty bottles.

Identified buko drink hazards are disinfectant hypochlorite beyond more than 550 parts per million (PPM) chlorine.

Addressing certain hazards include disinfecting and washing of nuts with pressurized water; sourcing ice, sugar, and other materials from accredited suppliers; inspecting water pipelines.

A buko juice HACCP also plan includes microbial analysis of worker's hands after each step; replacement of defective strainers for buko collection.

For desiccated coconut which is a shredded dehydrated meat (for cake decoration, meat coating, bread filling) which the Philippines produces and exports at around 100,000 metric tons annually, a HACCP product description includes a neutral ph, no preservatives added, packaging in food-grade polyethylene bags, a two-year shelf life.

Visiting international microbiology/food safety consultant Dr. Manuel Garcia introduced on coconut an integrated food safety program. A halal certification is also recommended for food manufacturers for the Muslim market.