Don’t you just love hearing about all the fun things that can go wrong with food like the plastic rice scare last year and reports of prohibited ingredients found in yummy street food?
Well here’s another story to brighten your day.
The Bali division of BPOM (Indonesia’s National Drug and Food Control Agency) has announced that it found traces of formaldehyde and other harmful substances in food tested at Kediri Market in Tabanan.
Of the dozens of food samples taken during a recent test at the market, some food was found to contain dangerous preservatives such as formaldehyde and the textile dye rhodamine B.
BPOM Bali staff Ni Wayan Ayu Sukarmi said the formaldehyde was found in an anchovy sample, while rhodamine B was found in four different types of Balinese sweets, including jajan sirat merah, jajan sagon, jajan begina, and jajan matahari. While the compound borax was found in kerupuk beras, kerupuk tempe, and in food from the company Cap Jago.
The vendor with the formaldehyde positive anchovies claims that the food was imported to Bali from Java and basically diverted the blame to his supplier.
“If I knew from the beginning, I would not have bought it. If I knew that, I would definitely not have sold formaldehyde-positive food,” the vendor told Tribun Bali.
Head of the Consumer Protection Agency of the Tabanan Department of Trade and Industry I Gusti Ayu Sri Wahyuni says they will move on to investigate suppliers and manufacturers to track the origins of these harmful substances.
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