S

uryati used to examine each piece of food she bought from Cibubur Market in East Jakarta, concerned about hazardous chemical substances and preservatives.

'I could only check from the physical appearance. I learned from TV that if tofu, for example, is springy, it could contain preservatives,' she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Now that Cibubur Market is the first to be sticking to the city's 'free from hazardous ingredients' program, the 43-year-old homemaker can buy tofu, meatballs and chicken nuggets without worrying.

Initiated by the Health Ministry and the Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency (BPOM), Trade Minister Gita Wiryawan and Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi launched the campaign at Cibubur Market last Friday.

Health agency head Dien Emmawati attended the ceremony and announced that the city administration planned to open 20 medical clinics at markets across the capital.

The facilities should curb the spread of diseases caused by the use of hazardous chemicals in the food industry.

'The clinics will be used to educate people about the side effects of unnecessary chemicals used food,' Dien said over the weekend.

The first four clinics will be opened at Cibubur Market, Tebet Barat Market in South Jakarta, Grogol Market in West Jakarta, Johar Baru Market in Central Jakarta and Koja Market in North Jakarta.

Cibubur Market manager Ruslan said on Monday that his staff were trying their best to keep their market free from the dangerous additives.

'Besides the routine examinations by BPOM officers twice a month, we will train two of our staff to know how to detect hazardous ingredients in food, to give information to the public and teach on vendors not to sell contaminated food,' he said.

His staff regularly ask the 400 vendors not to sell tainted products and inform them about the dangers of noxious substances through the public address system in the market.

Idi Suherlan, 52-year-old chicken vendor, said he was very pleased that the management took care of its building and vendors.

Claiming that he had never used preservatives in his chickens during 35 years in business, Idi said BPOM officers regularly checked out the products.

'Our problem is that we have lost customers due to relocation. Some vendors have no choice but to use preservatives so that they can still sell the leftovers,' he said.