BPOM Reveals Reasons for Delay in Implementing Nutri-Level Labelling
The Head of the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM), Taruna Ikrar, has revealed the reasons why the implementation of the nutri-level labelling system for packaged products cannot be carried out quickly. Nutri-level labelling is information classifying food or drink based on sugar, salt, and fat content.
Taruna explained that the application of the nutri-level labelling system on packaged products in Indonesia is quite delayed compared to other Asian countries, such as Singapore. He stated that the government needed nearly two years to prepare the regulations regarding this policy.
According to him, drafting this policy took a long time because the rules must strike a middle ground between public health interests and business sustainability. Taruna recounted that BPOM had to repeatedly communicate with industry players to find a middle path. The reason was that the industry was once concerned that this policy would burden their operations.
“So it’s not really a rejection, but a concern because changing packaging requires costs,” Taruna said at the Launch of the Nutrition Label at the Human Resources for Health Building, Jakarta, on Tuesday, 14 April 2026.
Although this policy has been launched, the use of nutri-level labelling for packaged drinks is still voluntary. The government is providing a two-year transition period for the industry to make adjustments before it becomes mandatory.
While waiting for that transition period, Taruna said, BPOM will offer incentives to industries willing to implement this system. These incentives include ease of product approval and various other process facilitations. These incentives are given during the trial phase to encourage the industry to implement the new policy.
“So there are several facilitations, including the application they make to us. We provide certain incentives. Because now it’s the education stage,” he said.
Alongside BPOM, the Ministry of Health is also beginning to implement the nutri-level labelling policy for ready-to-drink beverages, such as in restaurants. Eventually, this policy will gradually become mandatory for all sectors, including Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
In the initial stage, the policy of including nutri-level labels only applies to sugary drink products. The nutri-level consists of level A with dark green colour, level B with light green colour, level C with yellow colour, and level D with red colour.
Level A is for very healthy drinks with sugar content of less than 1 gram, meaning no added sweeteners. Then, level B for the healthy category, namely sugar content less than 1-5 grams, level C for the less healthy category with sugar content of 5-10 grams, and level D for the unhealthy category with sugar content of more than 10 grams.