Government probes 'kue lapis' case
Government probes 'kue lapis' case
JAKARTA (JP): The health authorities launched an investigation into the use of artificial preservatives in kue lapis, a popular traditional cake, after Malaysia declared last week that 10 Indonesian brands are unfit for consumption.
Minister of Health Sujudi said yesterday he hoped to resolve the problem once and for all. If the allegation is proven, then the government will take action against the producers.
The Malaysian health authorities last week said 10 brands of Indonesian kue lapis were found to contain too many artificial preservatives that could be fatal to humans. A report by Antara from Kuala Lumpur did not give the names of the brands but said they came from manufacturers in Medan, Banda Aceh and Jakarta.
Kue lapis, or layer cake baked one layer at a time, is generally served in Malaysia around Chinese New Year and also during the Ramadhan fasting month.
Sujudi said he was still waiting for the Malaysian authorities to contact his office about their findings.
He said that kue lapis must be consumed within a week and at that any point afterwards, the baker must use preservatives. "The question now is how much they can use."
The Director General for the Supervision of Medicine and Food at the Ministry of Health, Wisnu Katim, said his office had already taken samples of kue lapis and that it plans to conduct more laboratory tests.
Wisnu said the complete results won't be known for another week but that so far the samples had not shown any indication of using too many artificial preservatives.
The Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI), immediately following the Kuala Lumpur announcement, demanded that the Ministry of Health conduct checks on the use of preservatives in all foods.
Head of the YLKI Research Agency Caci Awanto told Antara that he also believes that many foods in Indonesia use amounts of preservatives and food coloring that could endanger the health of consumers.
Caci said the agency's own survey last year found that many food manufacturers were ignorant of the dangers of food preservatives and coloring, which resulted in a tendency to use too much of both.
In addition to ignorance, the fact that the packages containing preservatives and coloring often do not tell the users how they should be used complicates matters further.
The agency in January last year conducted a joint survey with the University of Atmajaya and British-based Save the Children organization on the foods sold in Jelambar, West Jakarta.
The survey found that most used chemicals at levels that could endanger human health. (emb)