THE Food and Drug Agency (BPOM) reminds the public to choose food that is safe for consumption. The appeal is inseparable from the threat of food containing various hazardous substances and circulating freely in the community.
“We educate the public to choose safe food. We have evaluated the safe food and obtained a distribution permit from the POM Agency that it does not use food additives that are unsafe for human consumption,” said Acting Head of BPOM Rizka Andalucia.
According to Rizka, Indonesia is currently being threatened by various diseases caused by food containing various dangerous substances.
According to him, the trend of disease threats in Indonesia has begun to shift from infectious to non-infectious diseases.
One of the causes of the emergence of this disease is the circulation of unsafe food in society.
“In Indonesia, it has now shifted from infectious diseases to non-infectious diseases. And we all know that one of the causes of the increase in non-infectious diseases is unsafe food,” said Rizka.
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Rizka said that many of the foods in circulation contain various dangerous substances. One of them is a carcinogenic substance that can increase the risk of cancer in the community.
“Starting from unsafe food additives that are carcinogenic, which are dangerous for our health,” said Rizka.
Rizka’s appeal was due to the increasing number of cases of diseases caused by food processing. One of the latest cases was mass poisoning that affected 16 students of SDN Cidadap I, Sukaraja District, Sukabumi Regency, last May.
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The students experienced dizziness, nausea and vomiting following purchasing Chinese snacks branded ‘Hot Spicy Latiru and Latiao Strips’.
Based on the results of the examination at the Sukabumi Regency Regional Health Laboratory and Health Clinic (Labkesda), the snack contained microbiological bacteria above the safe limit, namely 11,727 colonies per gram.
The content exceeds the limit of the Head of BPOM Regulation Number 16 of 2016 concerning Microbiological Criteria in Processed Food, namely 10,000-100,000 colonies per gram.
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A similar case also occurred in Sukabumi when 28 students experienced poisoning following eating Daya brand snacks last February.
After consuming the Chinese snacks, dozens of students from SDN Nangewer MI Nangewer students experienced nausea and even fainted. Due to the incident, the police also secured the snack vendor.
The three snacks, namely Hot Spicy Latiru, Latiao Strips, and Daya Latio Rib, are snacks originating from China. Based on a search on the LPPOM MUI website, none of the three snacks are registered with halal certification.
If Indonesia has failed in handling dangerous food products from China, Singapore is one step ahead in anticipating dangerous Chinese food.
In May 2024, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) recalled imported Chinese peanut products under the brand name Xiyuguoyuan Xinjiang Paper Roasted Walnut in 500g and 1kg pack sizes. The recalled products contained artificial sweeteners cyclamate and acesulfame-K at high levels beyond safe limits.
In recent decades, Chinese food products have been in the spotlight because of repeated chemical contaminants found in their contents. One of the most shocking was the Chinese milk scandal in 2008.
At that time, melamine chemicals contained a lot of melamine from various milk producers. The case also claimed 300,000 victims, of which 54,000 victims were rushed to the hospital and six babies had died from kidney failure. (Z-1)
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