Food products fail test

DENPASAR, Bali: The Denpasar Food and Drug Agency said 71 food and beverage products failed the health test in 1996. The agency surveyed 680 samples during the year, Antara reported.

This is an improvement from 1995, when the agency found that 141 out of 1,211 products surveyed had failed the test, the agency's chief, I Made Kawi, said Saturday.

The samples were taken randomly from shops and supermarkets.

The agency tested 574 drugs during the year, all of which passed the test. Only two of 332 cosmetic products surveyed failed.

Kawi said some of the products failed the test because they had passed the expiration dates stated on their labels.

The agency immediately warned the shop owners as soon as it learned of the results of the tests, demanding that the remaining offending products be removed from the shelves, he said. (emb)