Technical Assistance Team II
On account of strengthening control on food safety, food quality and nutrition, the National Standardization Agency (BSN), whose responsible for standardisation, conformity assessment, accreditation and metrology activities in Indonesia, in collaboration with ARISE+ Indonesia, organised a one-day Workshop on Risk Assessment and Management for Food Products, 17 October 2022. The workshop was part of a series of activities to observe the 2022 National Quality Month in October.
Safe and nutritious food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances causes mild to fatal health effects, ranging from diarrhoea to cancers. Foodborne diseases also cause economic burdens due to productivity loss and a surge in medical expenses.
The consequences of food safety issues may have fatal outcomes for both food business owners and consumers. Therefore, food safety is an essential aspect of food production and handling as it ensures the health and safety of consumers and is the responsibility of all parties in the food supply chain.
Delivering her opening address, the Deputy for Standard Implementation and Conformity Assessment of the BSN, Dr Zakiyah, said that the Workshop on Risk Assessment and Management for Food Products aimed to facilitate the implementation of Government Regulation No. 86 of 2019, Article 50.
"The regulation mandated that food control is performed based on risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication," Dr Zakiyah said.
According to Dr Zakiyah, implementing risk management in food production helped to prevent, detect and manage the inherent risks of food products, aiming to anticipate the emergence of contaminants that could harm consumers' health. Therefore, the workshop was important for producers, consumers and regulators who supervise food safety, quality and nutrition, as well as academics and researchers interested in the food sector.
In light of recent food safety issues on one of the Indonesian noodle products, BSN, as the Secretariat of the Codex Contact Point Indonesia, would raise a concern about Ethylene Oxide and propose to regulate the maximum content of Ethylene Oxide in processed food.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the international organisation under WHO and FAO, has not regulated Ethylene Oxide and its derivative compounds. However, the European Union has raised this issue through the 2020 European Union Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (EURASSF).
At the end of her remarks, Dr Zakiyah expressed her appreciation to the EU-funded ARISE+ Indonesia for its support and hoped that the collaboration would benefit the development and strengthening of infrastructure quality to support fair trade.
The ARISE+ Indonesia Technical Assistance II Team Leader, Alessandro Martinatto, underscored the importance of risk analysis as a powerful tool to promote further improvements in public health and provide the basis for expanding food exports and enhancing the competitiveness of Indonesian food products overseas.
"Therefore, we are delighted to collaborate with BSN on today's important workshop," Alessandro said.
The workshop was delivered by Food Technology and Safety Expert and Trainer from SEAFAST IPB, Prof. Dedi Fardiaz, and the ARISE+ Indonesia Standard and Conformity Senior Export, Alain Peyré, and co-facilitated by ARISE+ Indonesia Export Quality Senior Export, Arief Safari.
Topics discussed during the workshop included Good Regulatory Practices: scope, interest, and case studies, Preliminary Risk Management Activities in Risk Analysis, Introduction to Food Safety Risk Analysis Framework, The Process of Food Safety Risk Assessment, Risk Management to Protect the Health of Consumers, Risk Analysis Case Study.
Almost 400 participants comprising government officials from BSN, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, the National Agency of Food and Drugs (BPOM), the private sector and academia, took part in the workshop conducted in a hybrid mode.
