Here's The Fish Milk Production Process As An Alternative To Cattle Milk In The Free Nutrition Food Program

Fish milk is made from petek fish through a hydrolysat process that produces high protein liquids. (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

InDRAMAYU - Fish milk has recently become a topic of conversation on social media. Moreover, this fish milk is said to be an alternative cow's milk in the Free Nutrition Eating program of the President-elect Prabowo Subianto.

Fish milk itself is a unique protein drink made from fish meat.

This fish milk is not produced from dairyd fish, but through a series of sophisticated processes that turn fish meat into high nutritious drinks.

PT Give Bahari Indonesia, located in Kandanghaur District, Indramayu, West Java, is a pioneer in producing fish milk which is now widely known in the market.

So, what exactly is the process of making fish milk from unexpected basic ingredients, namely petek fish?

Petek fish are a type of small silver fish. This type of fish is often considered low selling value and is generally processed into salted fish.

However, PT. Give Bahari Indonesia can convert petek fish into fish protein hydrolicity (HPI), which is the basic ingredient for making fish milk.

Plan Manager Gives Bahari Fatih explained, the processing process begins by collecting fresh fish from local fishermen. Then, these fish go through the sorting stage and the removal of fish is thrown away to maintain the cleanliness and quality of meat.

After cleaning, the fish are ground to become fish meat porridge that is ready for further processing.

The next stage in making fish milk is the hydrolysic process. Fish fertilizer is processed using a protein hydrolysat machine for two to three hours. This process aims to separate fish proteins from their bones. The final result of this stage is a high-protein liquid which will later become the main ingredient of fish milk.

After going through the hydrolysate process, the fish protein liquid is inserted into a tank spray dryer feed, an engine that heats the liquid until it evaporates and turns into flour.

This drying process takes about 12 hours, from the beginning to the flour of fish proteins. This flour is the main raw material in the manufacture of various derivative products, including fish milk which is now a hot topic of conversation.

After turning into protein flour, this product is processed into fish milk or known as Surikan. Fish milk produced at the PT Give Bahari plant is present in two flavor variants, namely chocolate and strawberries.

CEO of PT Gives Indonesian Technology, Yogi Aribawa Krisna, said that this fish milk innovation is an alternative for people who want to benefit from fish without having to consume it in its whole form.

"Consuming fish to get the good of their nutrition can now be easier. This product can be put into various types of food, from cookies to noodles, even into protein drinks such as fish milk," he said at a press conference in Indramayu, West Java, Wednesday, September 18.

Not only offering high nutritional value, but PT Bikan Bahari also ensures that the fish milk products they produce are safe to consume. Yogi added that his party has been able to minimize the risk of microplastic and allergen contamination which is often a consumer concern.

"We use technology that allows our products to be free from microplastics and reduce allergen levels of fish. Although the allergen levels of each person are different, we try to reduce the level as low as possible," he said.

The presence of fish milk is an attractive alternative for those who want to enjoy fish benefits in a different way.

With a delicious taste and high nutritional value, this product is already available in various online stores at affordable prices, which is in the range of Rp120,000 for 350 grams of packaging.

Innovations such as fish milk from PT Beri Bahari Indonesia prove that with the right technology, products that were previously considered less valuable can be processed into high-value goods that are beneficial to public health.

"So we hope that this protein can be a good narrative that actually the production of fish milk is the production of the nation's children, the production whose technology we have mastered. Including all of these machines we fabricated ourselves," he added.