Puan Maharani Highlights 212 Oplosan Rice Brands: A Form Of Public Lies

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, highlighted the case of the practice of mixing rice found by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food Task Force related to 212 rice brands that did not meet quality standards.

Puan sees this condition as a form of public deception that is very detrimental to the small people. He asked the authorities to immediately take action against fraudulent practices in the midst of the community's economy being depressed.

"People should not be victims of dishonest markets. Especially in the midst of economic pressure, cheating is a form of crime that targets people's lives directly," said Puan in a statement received on Monday, July 15, evening.

Puan views that this problem is not just a matter of trade but concerns the basic rights of the community to food that is feasible, affordable, and informationally honest.

"The state must be present and act decisively so that food distribution is not controlled by the mafia or business actors who ignore ethics and law. The authorities must also take firm action against the rice mafia," he said.

Puan also encouraged the government to immediately take strategic steps to restore public trust and ensure protection for consumers. He said comprehensive law enforcement must be carried out not only for technical actors, but also for distribution networks and large corporations behind manipulative practices.

"It is also necessary to reform the labeling system and supervise food quality so that related institutions have sufficient authority and capacity," said Puan.

"The involvement of civil society and academics in supervision needs to be carried out to prevent the dominance of information by industry players," added the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture.

Puan also assessed the need for an evaluation regarding the distribution of national rice that has been carried out so far, including the role of SOEs and private partners in order to side with consumers and farmers. In addition, it is necessary to increase consumer literacy and protection through sustainable public education.

"This is a matter of economic justice. This is a matter of people's dignity. The Indonesian House of Representatives will continue to oversee so that food system reform really answers the needs and interests of the people," he concluded.

As is known, the Ministry of Agriculture found 212 rice brands in 10 provinces suspected of selling mixed rice and not according to standards. From these findings, 86 percent of the rice claimed to be premium or medium turned out to be just ordinary rice.

The findings are based on investigations that evaluate the quality and price of rice circulating in the market which was carried out in the period 6 to 23 June 2025. The investigation covers 268 rice samples from 212 brands spread across 10 provinces.

This sample involves two categories of rice, namely premium and medium, with a main focus on quality parameters, such as water levels, percentage of head rice, broken grains, and soup degrees. Based on the results of the investigation, it was found that 85.56 percent of the premium rice tested did not comply with the established quality standards.

Meanwhile, 88.24 percent of medium rice from the total tested samples did not meet the SNI quality standards. In addition, 95.12 percent of medium rice was found to be sold at prices exceeding HET, and 9.38 percent had a lower weight difference than the information listed on the packaging.