The Government Calls Cengkih Products Exposed To Cs-137 Coming From Lampung

The Radionuclide Radiation Hazard Management Task Force Cesium-137 (Cs-137 Handling Task Force) found that clove products, which were contaminated with radioactive origins from Lampung.

Expert Staff for Digital Transformation and Inter-Institutional Relations of the Coordinating Ministry for Food Sector who is also the Head of the Diplomacy and Communication Division of the Cs-137 Bara Task Force, Krishna Hasibuan, explained that the government had sent a team to review three locations for processing cloves in Surabaya, East Java.

From the results of the review, it was found that the processing site took cloves from two different plantations, namely Pati, Central Java, and Lampung.

"We can confirm that contamination was found in a plantation in Lampung," Bara said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, October 13.

Bara said the contamination was found in a limited amount and did not spread to areas or other commodities.

As an anticipatory measure, the Cs-137 Task Force together with the Nuclear Energy Supervisory Agency (Bapeten) recommended that clove products indicated that they were contaminated not be traded temporarily, until the results of the follow-up laboratory tests were completed.

"The team is still investigating the source of the Cs-137 contamination in Lampung. The government is moving quickly to localize this contamination so that it does not spread to other regions," he said.

He appealed to the public and business actors to remain calm and wait for the results of the official laboratory test.

The government will also openly provide the latest information to the public.

Previously, the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found Cesium-137 radioactive substances in clove products from Indonesia.

This finding adds to the list of cases of radioactive contamination to Indonesian food products, after previously exposure to Cs-137 was detected in export frozen shrimp.

In its report, the FDA found Cs-137 exposure on the cloves sent by PT NJS.

In response, the FDA blocked all spice imports from the company.