Manila - Environment groups on Monday lambasted the Philippines' health secretary for supervising the burning of thousands of bottles of salmonella-tainted peanut butter. The Ecological Waste Coalition criticized Health Secretary Francisco Duque for supervising the incineration of the contaminated products last week in Taguig City in metropolitan Manila.

The group said the disposal was a violation of the Clean Air Act, which prohibits the burning of materials that emit toxic and poisonous fumes.

"By openly circumventing the law in this case, the Department of Health has become party to the unnecessary and untenable propagation of a formidable public hazard," the group said.

Von Hernandez, Greenpeace South-East Asia director, said the incineration was outrageous "when you consider that it was the health secretary involved in violating a measure intended to safeguard public health."

The peanut butter bottles were recalled from local supermarkets after tests by the Health Department showed these were contaminated with salmonella. (dpa)