Official laments local food safety standards

Official laments local food safety standards

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Food quality remains almost alarmingly
low because many hazardous substances are still found in foods in
local markets, an official said at a seminar over the weekend.

According to Mulyo Sidik, an assistant to the minister of
food, unhygienic processing and excessive use of chemical
substances in food preparation are major problems.

"It is getting worse because until now there is no law which
regulates government control on food safety," he said, adding
that agents of control should involve the government, producers
as well as consumers.

According to Mulyo, unhygienic food can lower productivity,
reduce thinking ability, adversely affect the body's immunity
system and even cause death.

The seminar titled Food Safety and Consumer Protection was
held by the school of agriculture of Djuanda University in Ciawi.

Hendri Mevetra, a seminar coordinator, told The Jakarta Post
that the seminar was aimed to improve consumers' awareness and
urge the food industry to pay better attention to food safety.

Thomas Darmawan, director of the food and beverages producers
association, said that the food industry has grown into a jungle
of unfair competition including the forgery of brands, the use of
materials unsuitable for consumption, and unhygienic usage of
packaging and erroneous food handling.

A.Z. Nasution from the Indonesian Consumers Foundation
stressed the need for Indonesia to have a law on consumer
protection.

"Many people are hesitant to file lawsuits upon seeing that
those who take their complains to the court end up being
disappointed," Nasution said.

Despite cogent criticism, Rahardjo, head of the food
production and distribution control subdirectorate, said that
various attempts to control food circulation have been
implemented.

"However, the number of producers are also increasing which
poses new challenges to increasing our control and
sophistication," Rahardjo said.

The seminar was attended by some 200 participants from various
government agencies, the private sector, as well as university
students. (21/14)