YLKI demands government's action on bad pudding

JAKARTA (JP): A senior consumer protection advocate called on the government on Friday to inspect the distribution and sales of some imported chocolate pudding suspected to have poisoned more than 30 children in the past few days.

Tini Hadad, the former chairwoman of the Indonesian Consumers Association (YLKI), said anybody distributing or selling the pudding should be prosecuted.

"The association will meet with the Ministry of Health's Director General for Drug and Food Control Sampurno next week to discuss the matter.

"We'll push the director general to inspect all supermarkets, traditional markets, shops and kiosks soon to ascertain all the pudding was withdrawn," she told The Jakarta Post.

She said it was surprising to find the product, which had expired in May last year according to media reports, still being sold to the public.

Tini said there was a possibility that certain people took advantage of selling the expired product as it sold at a cheaper price.

"Such an import is usually expensive," she said.

Tini said those involved in the food distribution could be charged.

She suggested that the Ministry of Health and the Directorate General of Consumer Protection of the Ministry of Trade and Industry should empower food vendors, especially those operating at schools, to only sell health and registered food.

Thirty-one students at a state elementary school in Central Jakarta were rushed to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for treatment of suspected food poisoning after they ate imported chocolate pudding sold near the school yard.

A physician at the hospital's emergency unit, Abdul Latief, said the children suffered dehydration following constant vomiting.

The children bought the puddings packaged in small brown plastic containers with the brand Elle Vire and a picture of the Eiffel tower on the label with "Made in France" written below. They paid Rp 300 (7 US cents) per container from a man, who was not seen before in the area.

There was no expiry date nor government registration number on the pudding package. It is compulsory for the date and number to be printed on every imported food item that enters the country.

Meanwhile, a government decree, issued last June, stipulated imported food from France, the Netherlands and Germany was to have a dioxin-free certificate with it before entering the country following the decision to ban imported food from Belgium.

Sampurno was not available for comment on Friday. His secretary, Lis, said he was at a staff meeting. (ind)