Jakarta (ANTARA) – Government Communications Agency Chief Muhammad Qodari said President Prabowo Subianto had stressed the need to ensure high-quality food supplies to meet people’s needs while protecting consumers nationwide.
“Today, we can see that the government under President Prabowo is working to protect people as best it can, not only through food availability but also quality,” Qodari said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Qodari spoke while presenting findings from inspections of fortified rice by Agriculture Minister and National Food Agency (Bapanas) Chief Andi Amran Sulaiman, the Indonesian Police Food Task Force, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), law enforcement officials, and other stakeholders.
He said quality controls were also needed to protect consumers’ purchasing power by ensuring prices paid were commensurate with the quality and benefits of products.
Qodari warned that losses could be greater if substandard products were consumed by people needing additional nutrition, including pregnant women and vulnerable children.
He praised the Agriculture Ministry for advancing a government priority of strengthening food sovereignty by increasing national rice production.
Ensuring sufficient rice supplies should not be measured solely by production, but also by the government’s ability to maintain the quality of food reaching consumers, he said.
He said the government had focused on farmers as producers and consumers while developing a sustainable national food system.
It is now also focusing on rice processing and trading chains to ensure product quality remains compliant before reaching consumers, he said.
Regarding the fortified rice brands, Agriculture Minister and National Food Agency Chief Andi Amran Sulaiman said inspections had found 25 fortified rice brands allegedly failing to meet stated standards and nutritional content, causing estimated consumer losses of Rp89 trillion (US$5.03 billion).
“We have ordered them withdrawn, their licenses revoked and the cases processed. The alleged total loss is Rp89 trillion,” Amran said.
He said 25 fortified rice brands failed to meet quality and nutritional requirements under SNI 9314:2024 for fortified rice kernels and SNI 9372:2025 for fortified rice.
The brands allegedly violating the standards were WFO, TKS, IMF, NUR, TKL, HOK, BRV, IMR, IHJ, IAK, PBK, GNB, DTR, TKR, WJK, PLK, MKY, IMC, PTK, ARP, ARN, SKM, GNM, TAR, and CMS.
Following the findings, the government ordered the products withdrawn, licenses revoked, and parties allegedly involved processed under applicable laws.
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Translator: M.Harianto, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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