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)