Following the discovery of rotten meat and tainted food products in several markets across the city, the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI) has urged the Jakarta administration to improve quality assurance through consumer involvement and regulatory enforcement.

The West Jakarta husbandry and fishery agency found six kilograms of rotten stew meat at the Makro wholesale market in Kembangan on Thursday.

The following day, Jakarta's industry and trade agency found expired food products at the Giant hypermarket in Sunter Mall, North Jakarta. The agency also discovered missing expiration dates and distribution permits for various food products and beverages at the Food Hall and Hero supermarkets at Plaza Senayan in Central Jakarta, Beritajakarta.com reported.

"The discovery of rotten meat and other tainted food products demonstrates the failure by both the administration and the supermarkets' internal quality controls to properly monitor their products," the YLKI's Sudaryatmo told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

"It is high time the administration started involving consumers in monitoring food sold at these markets."

Sudaryatmo said consumers who were willing to report expired products had the right to receive a reward, for example cash compensation at twice the price of the reported product.

"Modern markets already have strict quality control measures of their own. So, it's impossible for them to claim they weren't aware they were selling expired products."

Double standards on the part of law enforcement officers are responsible for repeated cases of tainted food, Sudaryatmo added, citing article 204 of the criminal code, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for those caught selling or offering goods that endanger the life or health of another.

"In recent cases involving recycled meat being recooked or dyed for consumption, the police directly interrogated and arrested the perpetrator, seized the evidence and pursued the investigation. However, we're not seeing any police action in connection with the Makro rotten meat case."

According to article 8 of the 1999 Law on Consumer Protection, producers and sellers who do not maintain the freshness of their products face a maximum five-year prison sentence and Rp 2 billion in fines.

Despite the existence of such regulations, consumers in Indonesia still lack a critical awareness of their rights, Sudaryatmo said.

Win and Umi, Makro market customers for the past 10 years, said they once unwittingly bought rotten meat there.

"We discovered it wasn't fresh when we tried to cook it and it smelled," Umi said.

She did not file a complaint with the store's management, she added, saying it would be "too much trouble and a waste of time".

"We just threw the meat away and tried to be more careful when shopping after that."

On Saturday, the management of Makro declined to comment on the discovery of rotten meat in its store.

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