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Netnet Camomot .

THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday warned the Pinoy about the synthetic acetic acid in five vinegar products. These brands and their expiration dates or batch numbers are Surebuy Cane Vinegar, March 26, 2021; Tentay Pinoy Style Vinegar, March 18, 2021; Tentay Premium Vinegar, Batch No. TV Sep0718 AC; Tentay Vinegar Sukang Tunay Asim, June 6, 2020; and Chef’s Flavor Vinegar, Batch No. 8870401.

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And there I was, checking out our kitchen cupboard for these brands. No Surebuy, Chef’s Flavor, or Tentay there. Deep sigh of relief. Phew.

In case you haven’t noticed, Tentay has three kinds of vinegar in that list. So, beware.

FDA Officer-in-Charge Rolando Enrique Domingo, however, said the five products “do not pose any health risk as this only means that the vinegar is of substandard quality (“FDA Names 5 Vinegar Brands Containing Synthetic” by Jovic Yee, Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 5, 2019).”

“The presence of synthetic acetic acid merely represents that the vinegar did not undergo fermentation, either through a slow process, quick process or submerged culture process, which is used for commercial vinegar production,” Domingo added.

But what’s more frightening is the African swine fever which may stop people from eating pork. This will surely make a pig happy, if only there’s no African swine fever that could banish him and his fellow pigs from this oh so carnivorous world. Beijing estimates that about one million pigs have been killed so far.

Ma Ling, the popular Chinese luncheon meat brand, is banned in Pinas for now. Would that inspire its fans to switch to Spam?

Processed meat, with or without the African swine fever, is bad food. And red meat, whether processed or not, is also said to be bad food, along with chicken and seafood. A vegan diet is the best choice, provided the veggies are organic.

Vegans post photos of the reality in factory farming where cows, pigs, chickens, etc. grow in cramped cages until they’re old enough to be butchered and processed as food products. Still, allowing animals to roam around your farm until they’re old enough to be butchered does not exactly result to keeping them alive. Besides, the carnivore can always justify his appetite with, Hey, lions eat meat, too.

Well, the lion is the king of the jungle. It has perks galore.

Now, what’s the difference between the animals imprisoned through factory farming and those kept in zoos, ocean parks, theme parks, safaris, etc.? Tsk tsk.

The debate between carnivores and vegans is much like talking about politics and religion—it never ends. If Pope Francis could not adopt a vegan diet for Lent as challenged by 12-year-old Genesis Butler and the latter’s Million Dollar Vegan campaign, ordinary mortals like us may need more resolve—and prayers?—if ever we will finally choose to go vegan.

A journalist-Facebook friend’s vegan journey began with small steps, by avoiding red meat at first, then, she included chicken, and eventually seafood because, in her own words: “Naawa ako sa isda.”

If you’re reading this while having fish for an at-the-moment meal, you’re probably thinking, Nganong maluoy man ko sa isda?

If the fish you’re eating is the arowana that was swimming in your humongous aquarium a few hours ago, would you still eat that?

The cute goldfish in your child’s globe aquarium, the koi in your koi pond—they are fishes, too.

As for your pet dogs and cats—they are meat, in case you haven’t noticed. And there are people who do eat dogs and cats. Asocena, anyone? And there’s a recipe for Beer Roasted Cat.

Beer Roasted Pig sounds better? Hahay. Kaluoy sa baboy.

I finally saw a pet pig at the lobby of a condo in Taguig right after an earthquake shook Metro Manila last April 22. A well-behaved and intelligent pink vegan piglet living in a condo unit. How about that, huh?

According to the piglet’s human, a meat diet would make pigs grow big, but veggies and fruits could keep them cute.

That was the first time ever for me to see a pet pig, and it became a Realization 101: Hmmm, puede gyud diay. Oink!

But with the African swine fever threatening to be around for several years, better safe than sorry when it comes to anything piggy.

As if that fever is not enough, the United Nations warned last month that one million animal and plant species might go extinct within decades from now. Gosh. Since vinegar is made of some plant species, does that mean it will vanish, too?

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