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MANILA (SDN) — Barley is turning into a buzz word in the health sector, being promoted by Filipino celebrities, a few medical professionals, individuals, with every one of them selling their respective brand.
It is all over social media, some selling as high as Php1,000 per pack with 10 sachets, others not more than Php200 per box, also with 10 sachets.
One issue is why some Filipino-manufactured/packaged brands can sell for less than Php200 with free boxes to boot, while other Filipino brands sell for Php1,000 per that small box with 10 sachets. This is NOT to say the cheap ones are not authentic.
Makes us think, though. But why are they much cheaper than the others? Should the big disparity in price raise alarms on authenticity? Do we need to ask questions? Or just that those selling in very low price are philanthropists and selling them even in a losing bargain? 64 dollars question that I don’t have answer!
On authenticity, what this space meant is when a Barley product is purely made of the Barley plant’s leaves, no addition or dilution of any non-Barley substances, or elements. Unadulterated, unmixed with anything not Barley.
From Japan, I was able to get Barley brands such as Asahi and Yakult, each of its box containing 60 sachets. As relatives and friends who just came from Japan said, both the Asahi and Yakult brands sell for around 1,880 Yen, approximately Php750 each box of 60 sachets.
Depending on what part of the Rising Sun you buy a box of genuine “Made in Japan” Barley product, the price may range from Php750/Php800 to Php900. THAT’S A TRULY INEXPENSIVE PRICE compared to some Philippine brands!
Without stating the obvious and with no trace of being unpatriotic, I will always choose the Barley that’s “Made in Japan”. REASON is very OBVIOUS.
Can you trust those being promoted on Facebook, Lazada, Shopee, and other platforms selling very cheap. Me, I cannot and will not trust them.
Anyway, I have no way of finding out if they, the cheap ones, are genuine or not. Neither the brands going for Php1,000 each box with 10 sachets.
In the beginning, I bought 5 boxes of the Php1,000 brand from a nephew who is selling the brand. Because he is my nephew, he mercifully gave then to me for Php700 each box. Members of Barley groups in the country are given at least 50 percent of the cost of a box and sell them for Php1,000. No idea about the cheap ones, what’s their arrangement with the distributors, manufacturers.
When a relative return home from Japan with his family during the Xmas and New Year holidays, he gave me a box of the Asahi Barley brand, which he said cost Php800.
A kind-hearted soul, who is a batchmate and friend at University of Santo Tomas (UST), Angelie Roa Yu, was also in Japan during the holidays with her husband. I requested her to buy me two boxes of the Yakult brand for 3,760 Yen (around Php1,500).
Thankfully, despite their luggage already full of Japan goodies, Angelie, who I call Angel, kindly got me two boxes.
And I have a UST classmate now living in Japan with her Japanese husband. She thankfully agreed to buy me six boxes of the Asahi Barley brand. And ship to me soon. No, they are not for sale; three boxes are for a BFF in Cotabato City (he will pay for the three boxes).
My classmate, a seatmate at UST, and her husband have been extra careful when they go out because of the recent 7.6 magnitude big quake that hit Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture. Aftershocks, she said, are still terrorizing some parts of the country of the Rising Sun near Ishikawa Region.
Food and Drug Administration needs to authenticate Barley products
She and her husband are braving tension and stress every time they go out of their home.
Remember the “Great East Japan Earthquake” on March 11, 2011, in Fukushima Prefecture, that produced a tsunami?
That was near where they live and had experienced the horror and fear of the monster quake.
So, it is understandable that people in Japan are extra careful and vigilant, as Mother Nature can strike anytime of a 24-hour day. Aftershocks can be strong as well.
Back to the Barley thing, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should come in and find a way to determine the genuineness/authenticity of the Barley products being advertised and sold in the Philippines. Maybe set a standard price, while the government agency is at it.
This space thinks the FDA has the power and obligation to go after any company, group, individual, celebrity or not, promoting and selling any product, including Barley, that might be found for any fraudulent practices.
False advertising is punishable under the law!
Surely, the FDA would be able to determine a genuine or authentic Barley product through its researchers and high-tech equipment.
The FDA has been doing this on many other products, it’s time its men and women do it on the Barley products in the country.
To safeguard the health of the Filipino population. (✓)
_________
Editor’s Note:
My wife and me are taking three Barley sachets before breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Just to make it clear, this is not an endorsement, I have no authority or the knowledge or expertise of a scientist to determine Barley’s health benefits. This is only me.
My brother’s brother-in-law in Iba, Zambales, was strongly advised by his doctor to have himself injected with insulin shots already because of his kidney. No more other alternative for him but to take the shots. But he was not ready for it.
Instead, what he did was that my elder brother’s brother-in-law bought Php34,000 worth of Barley products from his younger sister (my elder brother’s wife) and took two Barley products 30 minutes before every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, every day until his supply was all consumed. For a total of six sachets daily.
After consuming his supply, his kidney became well again, and he did not have to take insulin shots. Now, he had stopped drinking Barley. Please understand, as I repeat, it’s not an endorsement. Please ask your doctors for advice.