Food poisoning common in Bogor regency

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Almost half the restaurants in Bogor regency serve food that is prepared unhygienically, an official revealed on Tuesday.

"After examining 275 restaurants in Bogor, we found that only 141 restaurants or 52 percent serve food that would be safe for consumption," senior official at Bogor Health Agency Komar Hanifi said.

It is not surprising then that a total of 676 people in Bogor, West Java suffered from food poisoning between January and August this year, a sharp increase from 204 victims in the whole of 2001, according to Komar.

None of the food poisoning victims this year died, while last year, two died due to food poisoning, he added.

"Residents in Bogor, particularly those who live in rural areas, still ignored food hygiene. No wonder there is an increase in the number of those cases," Komar said on the sidelines of a seminar on food safety.

He said, for example, that some local people still produced tofu using water from a small dirty river, which was likely contaminated with E coli and other bacteria.

This year, food poisoning cases occurred in Bendungan village (with 100 victims), in Antajaya (61), in Tanjung Sari (141) and in Pasir Bambu (22).

Cases of food poisoning also occurred in two food companies PT Shinwood Indonesia with 140 victims and PT Benedes International (212), he added.

During the last five years, food poisoning cases have affected 2,209 rural residents leaving three people dead.

Komar said his office would continue to campaign against unhygienic food in Bogor targeting food firms, restaurants and sidewalk vendors.

However, Komar admitted the measures would not be easy because his office had limited funds as well as human resources.

He also said Bogor regency had yet to enact a bylaw that regulated the preparation of food to be served to the public, making it difficult to impose penalties.