TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsBPOM to check if food trays for free meals program tainted with pork
Chairman of the BPOM Taruna Ikrar said the agency would assign a team of its scientists to conduct laboratory tests to check if food trays, which were imported from China, contained non-halal substances, specifically pork lard.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A pupil receives her prepackaged meal as part of the government's free nutritious meal program at SD 1 Gagaksipat state elementary school in Boyolali, Central Java, on Jan. 15, 2025. The Central Java administration has allocated Rp 67.1 billion from its budget to support the free meals rollout. (Antara/Aloysius Jarot Nugroho)
T
he Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) will conduct an investigation following unconfirmed reports that food trays used in President Prabowo Subianto’s free nutritious meal program were tainted with non-halal substances.
Chairman of the BPOM Taruna Ikrar said the agency would assign a team of its scientists to conduct laboratory tests to check if food trays, which were imported from China, contained non-halal substances, specifically pork lard.
“The BPOM will follow up on the allegation with tests. We have laboratories that will allow us to conduct the tests,” Taruna was quoted by Antara as saying.
Taruna gave no details on when the testing would wrap up but he said his team would kick off the probe in the near future.
“We will follow this up as quickly as possible,” he said, adding that the agency would not only look for porcine DNA but also other chemical compounds in trays imported from China, including glycerin and gelatin.
An unconfirmed report circulating on social media published by an outlet known as the Indonesia Business Post claimed to have conducted an investigation in the Chaoshan region, in the eastern part of China and found that metal trays bound for Indonesia were treated with pork lard during their manufacturing process.
President Prabowo had touted the free meals scheme as a solution to the high rates of stunting among children, as he carved his way to a landslide election victory last year.
But its rollout since January has stumbled from crisis to crisis, including accusations of nepotism, funding delays, protests and a spate of food poisoning incidents.
The program is slated to reach as many as 17.5 million children this year and cost US$4.3 billion.
