The Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency (BPOM) reported Friday that more than 3,252 food packages sold in 556 distribution facilities had passed their expiration dates, following inspections from Feb. 5 to 11.
"Inspections were done ahead of Chinese New Year due to increasing demands for some goods during the period," BPOM chief Kustantinah said.
BPOM conducted the inspection in 30 provinces using sampling methods in shopping centers and other locations known to often distribute illegally imported products, Hayatie Amal, BPOM's deputy technical executor for food safety and dangerous ingredients, said.
She cited locations such as Glodok and Gajah Mada in Jakarta that were infamous for selling such illegal products.
Kustantinah said that apart from the expired products, which comprised 76.39 percent of the products in breach of agency regulations, BPOM also uncovered 487 types of goods (over 11 percent of the products violating regulations) being sold without distribution permits.
The agency also found 251 packages of spoiled food products in the distribution facilities, which included traditional and modern markets and warehouses.
It uncovered 156 types not meeting standard labeling regulations, including not having product information in Indonesian, while 17 packages were deemed to violate other BPOM regulations.
BPOM destroyed 1,603 packages of these products consisting of 93 types of goods. The agency also confiscated 1,867 others consisting of 610 types. Nineteen types were returned to the distributors.
Hayatie said the spoiled or expired products could have reached local markets through illegal ports.
The products included chocolates and canned products, Kustantinah said, adding that the prevalence of expired products among those violating BPOM standards was due to unethical profiteering by businesses.
Hayatie said the distributors would receive warnings and undergo legal procedures should they fail to heed the warnings.
Chinese New Year celebrations usually include certain foods that are either factory-made or traditionally produced.
BPOM also responded to other current scares such as the melamine contents in imported products and the hazards of aspartame, an artificial sweetener.
Kustantinah said that the agency was currently conducting laboratory tests on imported food products suspected of containing melamine, including milk, cookies and snacks.
Melamine is a chemical usually used in manufacturing industries, such as plastic and eating utensils manufacturing.
Last year, the agency found a chocolate candy brand sold in markets that contained melamine.
Kustantinah said there were circulating text messages claiming to have been sent from the Indonesian Doctor's Association (IDI), warning against the use of aspartame.
The text messages said the substance could harm the brain, among other dangers.
"However, IDI's executive secretary said IDI never issued any statements on aspartame," Kustantinah said.
She added that aspartame was allowed in some food and drinks, such as milk-based drinks, candies, and soft drinks. (dis)
