Jurnal Kesehatan, ISSN 1979-7621, Vol. 3, No. 2, Juni 2010: 140-148
142
especially for: 1. Standard for food which Indonesia
has large market share in inter- national market
2. Standard for food which most Indonesian consume in a large
amount 3. Guidance for quality assurance
systems for food products especially agricultural product
4. Guidance related to certification system and inspection for food
product for both local trade and international trade
In fact, Indonesian National Standard can only be complied by large
food processors or export-oriented producers and only several small
producers. A lot of regulations have been made but lack of socialization
make most small producers do not understand and weak law enforcement
obstruct the effort to apply Indonesian National Standard for all food products.
Government control is very inadequate and ineffective, although
regulations about food and consumers protection are sufficient. Therefore,
coordination between linked insti- tutions needs to be improved. This lack
of coordination makes ineffective control Anonym 2006a.
Ineffective government control causes numerous problems related to
food safety. According to Badan Perlindungan Konsumen Nasional
National Consumers Protection Body 2007, four main problems related to
food safety are: 1. Poisonous food due to
deterioration, being contaminated or mixed with dangerous substances
or additive
2. The use of illegal or excessive additives:
a. preservatives b. colouring agent
c. sweetener d. other additives
3. Food or drink labels which are not comply with labeling and
promotion regulations Indonesian Government regulation no. 69
1999
4. Expired food and drink All those problems will be
explained as follows:
A. Poisonous food cases
According to National Consu- mers Protection Body 2007, most food
poisoning cases were due to food provided by catering services. National
data gathered by Indonesian Food and Drug Control also stated that in the last
four years, catering services and small food industries gave the biggest
contribution 31 in national poisonous food cases compared to big
industry products 20
Data from Indonesian Food and Drug Control shows significant increase
of poisonous food cases from 2001-2006 in both the number of cases and
number of sick and dead victims. During 2006 from 1 January – 23
August 2006, there were 62 cases, with 11.745 people consumed the foods,
Problem in Providing Safe Food for Indonesian People Pramudya Kurnia
143
4.235 people were sick and 10 died. In 2005, there were 184 cases, 23.864
people consumed the foods, 8.949 were sick and 49 died.
In terms of causes, in 2006, 37 cases’ causes were unknown, 11 were
caused by microbes, and 8 cases are undetectable due to lack of sample.
Whereas in 2005, unknown causes were 95 cases, 45 cases are undetectable due
to lack of sample and because of microbes 30 cases. These numbers keep
increasing. In Central Java province only, there were 40 cases from January
to November 2010, with 11 people died Food Security Council Central Java
Province 2010.
Those data describes that consu- mers’ awareness of the risk of poiso-
nous foods is far from sufficient, including their obligation to read and
understand information provided on label and condition of food and
package before choosing the food they will consume.
Socialisation to community is very important therefore to push
people to be wiser in choosing food. This means consumers have to have
awareness and knowledge about things they use and consume, especially about
the quality standard, use and safety. The cause of a lot of cases cannot be
detected because people refused to report the case or they reported it late,
therefore it was hard to get enough sample or evidence.
B. The use of illegal or excessive additives:
