Tight control urged on imported food

Tight control urged on imported food

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Consumers Agency (YLKI) called on
the government yesterday to closely supervise imported foods to
ensure Indonesia does not become a dump for expired food
products.

Agency chairperson Tini Hadad warned that some western food
producers have targeted developing countries for dumping expired
products.

An American company producing Nabisco biscuits was known to
have lengthened by six months the expiry dates on products
exported to South Korea and Indonesia, said Tini.

Expiry dates on the outer packaging were between three and six
months longer than dates on the inner wrapping, she said.

"This means that biscuits consumed on a particular date should
have been tossed in the waste basket three or six months ago,"
Tini said in a statement in connection with the World Food Summit
that opened in Rome yesterday.

"This is an example of an export-import business that puts
consumers lives on the line," she said.

The South Korean government has lodged a protest and launched
a boycott of Nabisco biscuits. In Indonesia, YLKI has
unsuccessfully tried to take the matter to the biscuit
distributor, Rodamas.

The Nabisco affair is only one of countless problems related
to imported food, said Tini.

The agency urged the government to be wary of unfair business
practices, especially those related to food and agricultural
products.

The agency also urged the government to ban imports of
agricultural products containing dangerous chemical residues used
as preservatives.

"The government should form an information network with other
countries about food products which must be banned because they
contain dangerous substances," Tini said. (pan)