Badanas Boss Reminds Rice Business Actors Not To Play With Rice Quality

JAKARTA - Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas), Arief Prasetyo Adi, asked rice business actors to consistently maintain quality standards and quality of their products. This is because the food is directly targeted at the wider community.

"So it's our job to ensure that the information on the packaging outside, the content of the product is exactly the same. If it doesn't match, it means fraud. We all need corrective action. Starting from scales, rice quality, weight, it all really has to be appropriate," he said in his statement, Thursday, July 24.

He also underlined that President Prabowo Subianto consistently showed serious attention to the food sector, especially when the price of unhulled rice was below Rp. 6,500 per kilogram.

"The president's direction regarding rice is very firm. In the past, when the price of unhulled rice was below Rp. 6,500, he was also firm. So we have a president who today pays great attention to farmers, breeders, and the community. So please don't play around with the quality of rice," Arief again warned.

Arief explained that the classification of rice quality has been regulated in the Bapanas Regulation No. 2 of 2023, including the maximum limit of broken grains for each quality class of 15 percent for premium and 25 percent for medium. If more than that, the product should be categorized as submedium or broken, with prices well below the top quality rice.

In addition, rice in packaging must include a number of important information such as trade name, quality class, clean weight, type classification, halal logo, production date, to producer identity or packaging. He appealed to the public to be more careful in checking packaging labels before buying them.

"It needs to be explained to the public that if the rice is already in the packaging, it must be in accordance with the packaging. Is it classified as premium or medium. Everything must be appropriate. But when it comes to bulk or loose rice (mass rice), it's a bit difficult," he said.

The government's decisive steps are increasingly visible to the latest findings by the National Police's Food Task Force which reveals that three rice producers are suspected of violating the quality and packaging label.

The three manufacturers are PT PIM which produces Sania brand rice; PT FS with the brand Sentra Ramos Merah, Sentra Ramos Biru, and Sentra Pulen; as well as the SY Store with the brand Jelita and Twins.

The Task Force stated that it would continue to carry out investigations and investigations into unnatural practices in the circulation of national rice.