BOGOR - Head of the National Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi said his party would strengthen multi-sector collaboration both at home and abroad together with other ministries and institutions in more innovative and sustainable ways in maintaining food security.
Arief said calls to build mutual awareness about the importance of food safety for human health had been built by Badanas.
One of them is in the momentum of commemorating World Food Safety Day in June 2022, he invites all parties to be involved and collaborate in efforts to maintain food security.
"Education on the importance of food safety is a shared responsibility that must continue to be carried out. Food safety is everyone's business," said Arief, quoted from Antara, Monday, December 5.
The Food Agency has also consolidated with relevant ministries and institutions as well as all services that handle food in 34 provinces and 514 regencies/cities by holding a National Consolidation for Strengthening Food Standards and Standards for 2022 on Tuesday, September 20.
The forum discussed standard formulation, and technical regulations, as well as food safety and quality guidelines.
Arief said the active role of the Food Agency in maintaining and ensuring Food Safety was in line with the direction of the President of the Republic of Indonesia.
This is also mandated in Law Number 18 of 2012, concerning Food, which mandates the government to ensure food adequacy, both its quantity and quality, is safe, diverse, nutritious, equitable, and affordable and does not conflict with people's religion, beliefs, and culture, to be able to live a healthy, active, and productive life in a sustainable manner.
The law also states that food consumption for the public must meet the requirements for safety, quality, nutrition, labeling and advertising.
"This is in line with the principles and guidelines of FAO/WHO on National Food Control Systems, which aims to provide consumer protection and ensure fair and responsible food trading practices," said Arief.
Based on WHO data every year, one in ten people in the world fall ill with food congenital diseases.
Contaminated foods can cause more than 200 diseases, and the magnitude of the public health burden is comparable to malaria or HIV AIDS.
Children under five are at higher risk, because one in six deaths due to diarrhea is caused by unsafe foods.
Meanwhile, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) 2022 reported that Indonesia's Global Food Security Index (GFSI) in 2021 will be in the position of 69 out of 113 countries.
This figure is measured through an assessment of 4 aspects, such as affordability, availability (Availability), quality and security (Quality and Safety), as well as natural resources (SDA) and resilience (Natural Resources and Resilience).
This shows the need for hard efforts to achieve national food security and security.
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