The Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Philippine Standards (DTI-BPS) established a committee responsible for developing Filipino dishes mainly for international purposes.

The new committee, BPS/TC 92, is in charge of developing popular dishes like adobo, sinigang, lechon, and sisig, centering on the standardization of different cooking techniques and bringing more attention to Filipino cuisines, with the first being adobo.

Furthermore, the agency said that the committee began drafting the standards for cooking the Pinoy favorite, adobo, on May 11, referring to the “Kulinarya: A Guidebook to Philippine Cuisine” as their main reference.

In a press statement released, July 9, BPS Director Neil Catajay said, the committee hopes to set standards in making these Filipino staples after various techniques and recipes made available in different mediums by bloggers, vloggers, and food writers.

Catajay shared, “Standardizing the basic cooking technique for Philippine adobo will help ordinary citizens, foodies, and food businesses determine and maintain the authentic Filipino adobo taste.”

However, days after the release of the said statement, netizens all over social media criticized the initiative. The agency furthermore clarified, on Sunday, July 11, that this project is to benchmark Filipino cuisines to promote internationally, not necessarily making it mandatory.

“The attempt is to define what we will promote internationally and not redefining what adobo is to different people now,” the national agency cleared up the claims.

The newly chartered committee includes BPS/TC 92 Chairperson, Chef Glenda Barretto, founder of Via Mare Corporation, and Vice-Chairpersons Chef Myrna Segismundo and Chef Raoul Roberto Goco from Food Writers Association of the Philippines (FWAP) and Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines (HRAP), respectively.

Joining them are representatives from the University of the Philippines Diliman – College of Home Economics (UPD-CHE), Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers, Inc. (PCFMI), Philippine Association of Meat Processors, Inc. (PAMPI), Department of Science and Technology – Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI), Philippine Association of Food Technologists, Inc. (PAFT), Le Toque Blanche (LTB) Chefs Association, Asia Society Philippines, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc.

The draft of the said project, will be circulated nationwide, once available, for review and comments of concerned stakeholders.

The DTI-BPS is mandated to develop, promulgate, and implement standards for all products in the Philippines, to promote standardization activities in the country, and to ensure the manufacture, production, and distribution of quality products for the protection of the consumer.

Source: https://www.dti.gov.ph/news/standardization-of-famous-filipino-dishes-advances/