Indonesian FDA Finalises Food Safety Curriculum for Schools

The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (Badan POM) is finalising plans to ensure that food safety material can be incorporated into the school curriculum. This step is being taken to ensure that education regarding safe and quality food consumption can be instilled from an early age in the younger generation. Deputy for Processed Food Supervision at Badan POM, Elin Herlina, revealed that the integration plan had actually been proposed for a long time. However, this year has become a crucial momentum to finalise the design. “We have long proposed for it to be included in the curriculum. It is only this year that we are finalising or ensuring that the curriculum we have designed can be included in the school curriculum, especially regarding food safety,” Elin said at the Gebyar Sapa Sekolah event in Jakarta on Monday (29/6). Elin emphasised that building a food safety culture in the school environment cannot be done by Badan POM alone. Collaboration from various parties involved in the education ecosystem is needed to create an environment that supports student health. According to her, the quality of Indonesia’s human resources in the future depends greatly on what is consumed today. She detailed three aspects of food that must be considered simultaneously, namely safety, quality, and nutrition. “For example, the nutritional aspect involves planning good nutrition in a menu, but if the safety aspect is neglected, the nutrition cannot be received by the beneficiaries,” Elin explained. Badan POM asserts that the safety aspect must be a prerequisite before discussing other aspects. Without a guarantee of safety, the nutritional content in food will not provide optimal benefits to the body and may even pose a risk of health problems. Through the inclusion of this material in the curriculum, it is hoped that a food safety culture can be promoted to the entire school community. The goal is for children to become accustomed to building individual food safety awareness and to become agents of change in their surrounding environment.