Jakarta, MINA – The Founder of Indonesia Halal Watch (IHW), Ikhsan Abdullah, has called for stronger enforcement of the country’s Halal Product Assurance Law following reports about imported food trays for the Free Nutritious Lunch Program. Abdullah clarified that the issue isn’t the primary material of the trays but rather the production process, which allegedly involves the use of pig oil.
“It’s not that the food-grade material or the tray itself contains pork. It’s the final process of making the food-grade product that uses pig oil,” Abdullah explained in a statement on Wednesday.
According to him, in the final stage of production, stainless steel trays are dipped in a lard-based oil to prevent rust and friction. “Pig oil is the most effective and cheapest [solution]. That’s what the findings show,” he stated.
Abdullah believes this discovery should serve as a wake-up call for the government, businesses, and the public to enforce Law Number 30 of 2014 concerning Halal Product Assurance.
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“That law mandates that all products in circulation must be halal-certified. Food-grade products are no exception,” he emphasized.
He also questioned the policy of importing trays from China when domestic industries are capable of producing similar items. “Why aren’t we using similar products made by our own people? If we can build ships, why do we have to buy lunch boxes from China?” he asked.
Abdullah argued that domestic production would not only make it easier to ensure halal standards but also provide a “multiplier effect” on the economy. “By producing these lunch boxes here, labor is absorbed, people earn a living, they can buy rice, and the farmers can live. This is what wasn’t considered. We were too rushed,” he concluded.
The issue came to light after a report by Indonesia Business Post (IBP), which investigated the Chaoshan industrial area of Guangdong Province, China. The region is known as a production hub for lunch containers for the global market, including those allegedly for the Free Nutritious Lunch Program.
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The IBP report uncovered that 30 to 40 factories were allegedly producing lunch boxes with counterfeit “Made in Indonesia” and SNI (Indonesian National Standard) labels.
The investigation also found that the factories were using Type 201 stainless steel, which is believed to have high manganese content and is unsuitable for acidic foods. It also highlighted indications that pig oil was used in the production process. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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