Indonesia's Protein Intake Per Kapita Is Lower Than Malaysia, Vietnam To Thailand

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) revealed that Indonesia's protein intake per capita is still far away compared to neighboring Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar to Thailand.

The Director General of Strengthening the Competitiveness of Marine and Fishery Products (PDSPKP) KKP, Budi Sulistyo, said that several Asian countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia have a fairly high level of protein intake, namely 94.4 grams for Vietnam and 89.1 grams for Malaysia.

Meanwhile, continued Budi, Japan and South Korea have an intake of 82.9 and 78.5 grams of protein each per capita per day. In the Southeast Asia region, Myanmar recorded consumption of 78.3 grams per capita, while the Philippines was 73.1 grams, Thailand 66.5 grams, and Cambodia 63.6 grams.

Based on data, continued Budi, China leads with a daily protein consumption rate of 121.7 grams per capita per day. The United States and Norway follow with 109.6 and 101.2 grams per capita per day, respectively.

"The Indonesian people's protein intake at this time is only recorded at 62.3 grams per capita per day," he said in a media briefing at the Office of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Jakarta, Tuesday, September 17.

Budi explained that Indonesia itself has abundant sources of protein, especially from fish. Therefore, Budi emphasized the importance of improving and strengthening the governance of fish resources so that they can be used optimally as a source of protein.

According to Budi, sufficient protein intake for the younger generation of Indonesia is also in line with the government's target to achieve Indonesia's upcoming Gold 2045.

This is because the goal is to make Indonesia a developed country needs to be supported by quality Human Resources (HR).

"When we talk about the golden generation, what size benchmarking? We propose one of them is the intake of people's protein, where the intake of fish-based people's protein has one content that is not small in value, which is very important for brain growth, namely omega3, DHA and MBA," he explained.

Therefore, he considered, the introduction of products such as fish milk and fish protein is an effort to provide new choices for the community in meeting protein intake needs.

Furthermore, Budi said, people can consume fish in fresh or frozen form, which can be processed into various types of food for children and future generations.

For example, continued Budi, processed into sausage products, fish meatballs, and fish-based snacks with a standard fish content of at least 30 percent.

The next third option is fortification, utilizing the results of HPI fish protein extract technology. One of the products that is now known is fish milk," he said.