BPOM: Unauthorised food products predominantly from Malaysian and Singaporean imports

Jakarta — Indonesia’s Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) has revealed that the majority of non-compliant or substandard processed food imports entering the country originate from Malaysia and Singapore.

BPOM Head Taruna Ikrar announced at a press conference on food supervision ahead of Ramadan and Eid Fitri 2026 in Jakarta on Wednesday that, based on intensified monitoring efforts during the period, unauthorised imported food products accounted for 70.4 per cent from Malaysia, 11.3 per cent from Singapore, followed by China at 10.4 per cent and Thailand at 2.2 per cent.

BPOM documented that the intensified monitoring covered 1,134 food distribution outlets across 38 provinces. The majority of inspected facilities were modern retailers at 50.2 per cent, followed by traditional retailers at 32.5 per cent, distributor warehouses at 16.6 per cent, importer warehouses at 0.6 per cent, and e-commerce warehouses (online marketplaces) at 0.1 per cent.

Non-compliant facilities comprised 227 modern retailers, 143 traditional retailers, 24 distributor warehouses, and one importer warehouse.

BPOM identified numerous non-compliant food products: unauthorised food items numbered 27,407 units or 48 per cent of total findings, expired food items at 23,776 units or 42 per cent, and damaged food at 4,844 units or 8.7 per cent.

Taruna explained that the high volume of unauthorised food discoveries stemmed partly from strong consumer demand, which drove illegal supplies through informal channels in border regions.

BPOM identified several areas with the highest unauthorised food findings: Palembang with 10,848 units, Batam with 2,653 units, Palopo in South Sulawesi with 2,756 units, Sanggau with 1,654 units, and Tarakan with 1,305 units.

The most common unauthorised food categories included spices and condiments, food additives, snacks, textured products, meat preparations, and cereal products.

BPOM emphasised that the monitoring exercise aimed to prevent public health risks from non-compliant food products and ensure food safety for the public throughout the Ramadan and Eid period of 1447 Hijri/2026.