'Four jamu makers made toxic brew'
Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Purwokerto
Police in the Central Java town of Cilacap said on Monday they were still investigating four major jamu (traditional herbal medicine) companies on charges of allegedly mixing their products with a potentially dangerous chemical substance.
Three of companies are PT Jamu Serbuk Manjur, PT Jamu Purba Salma and PT Jamu Sinar Laba-Laba are based in Kroya subdistrict. The fourth is PT Jamu Serbuk Super which is in Sampang town.
The police also arrested the owner of PT Sinar Laba-Laba, 40- year old Johan Sarijo, confiscated dozens of truckloads of his company's products and halted production.
The legal action followed a report from the Food and Beverage Supervisory Agency (POM) in Jakarta that jamu produced by the four companies was tainted with unregulated chemical substances.
"The POM office commenced an examination two weeks ago, and the results prompted us to act," the chief of the Cilacap Police Precinct, Adj. Sr. Comr. Bambang Sudarisman told The Jakarta Post here on Monday.
He said the POM office had recommended that legal action be taken against the four accused firms.
Bambang said that according to the findings by the agency, the four jamu factories have used dexamitason, a chemical substance which is hazardous to humans.
Chairul Mufied, head of the Banyumas district health office, confirmed on Monday that dexamitason could cause a kidney damage if consumed in the long term.
Bambang said further that nine employees and pharmacists from the companies were questioned as witnesses in the case, adding that their bosses would be summoned and they might be held as suspects if the evidence is sufficient to charge them.
The firms are the largest among the total of 680 jamu producers, which were registered with the Aneka Sari Traditional Jamu Cooperatives in Cilacap. Each of the four employs approximately 1,500 people and their products have mostly been marketed outside of Java.
Meanwhile, PT Jamu Serbuk Manjur Sumadiharjo on Monday criticized any health officials for failing to prevent jamu producers from mixing their products with the hazardous chemical substance.
"They have regularly toured the factories. After that they did nothing. With the absence of any warnings from the government, we are led to believe that we have no problems with our products," said Sumadiharjo, who is also an executive of the Cooperatives.
He added that jamu companies had expected new innovations from health office experts to be applied in their factories to improve the quality of their products.