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)