National Food Task Force Issues 350 Warnings During Ramadan 2026, 4 Cases to be Prosecuted

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The National Food Task Force issued 350 warning letters to businesses during food safety inspections leading up to the 2026 national religious holidays.

The Head of the Task Force, also the Chief of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit, Commissioner General Pol Syahardiantono, said that the warnings were issued to businesses that violated food pricing and distribution regulations.

“The Food Task Force continues to monitor various regions to ensure that distribution runs smoothly, prices remain under control, and products circulating are safe for public consumption,” said Syahardiantono in a statement on Thursday (February 26, 2026).

He emphasised that supervision was tightened in the lead-up to Ramadan, Nyepi, and Eid al-Fitr because demand for food significantly increased during this period.

Overall, the Task Force conducted 28,270 monitoring activities throughout Indonesia.

Of this number, 2,461 activities involved inspections of distributors or producers, and 898 activities involved coordinating the replenishment of empty stocks.

The Task Force also recommended the revocation of one business license and three distribution licenses as part of efforts to enforce regulations in the food sector.

According to Syahardiantono, administrative measures such as warnings and the revocation of licenses are part of preventive and repressive efforts to ensure that businesses comply with applicable regulations, including those related to maximum retail prices and food safety standards.

In addition to administrative warnings, authorities are also prosecuting four criminal cases in the food sector.

Two suspects, with the initials LM and H, were arrested with evidence including two motorboats, 5,037 boxes containing 77 tons of beef, chicken, and pork, and hundreds of sacks containing other goods.

The second case is being handled by the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Police, related to the alleged repackaging of Bulog’s SPHP (Affordable Food Program) rice from 5-kilogram packages into plain 50-kilogram sacks.

In this case, one suspect, with the initials NS, has been named, with evidence including sewing machines, rice sacks, and used packaging.

Also read: Government and Business Agree to Maintain Food Prices Until Ramadan