Foods Containing Formalin Can Cause Cancer: Officers Act On Naughty Takjil Sellers Ahead Of Iftar

Snacks (takjil) containing formalin found by joint officers from Central Jakarta City Government/ Photo: Rizky Sulistio/ VOI

JAKARTA - The Central Jakarta City Government together with the DKI Jakarta Food and Drug Administration (POM) found two samples of takjil food containing formalin and rhodamine B.

The findings were known from the results of food surveillance at the takjil sales center in the Bendungan Hilir (Benhil) area, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta on Wednesday, April 13, afternoon.

Head of the DKI Jakarta POM, Susan Gracia Arpan, said that the results of the supervision found that the food did not meet the requirements.

"The two foodstuffs are tofu aci which contains formalin and Chinese henna ice contains rhodamine B. Those are the results of our mobile lab (car)," he told VOI at the location, Benhil area, Tanah Abang, Wednesday, April 13, afternoon.

Snacks (takjil) containing formalin found by joint officers of the Central Jakarta City Government/ Photo: Rizky Sulistio/ VOI

Joint officers had previously taken as many as 55 samples of takjil food sold in the Benhil area. Of the 55 food samples, officers only found 2 samples that were not fit for consumption.

Furthermore, 2 samples of food that did not meet the requirements were immediately dropped from the point of sale. While the seller is given coaching.

"We are trying to find out where it came from. We have cadres in the market to track down dangerous goods that enter the market, we will test them," he said.

Checks will continue to be carried out during Ramadan. Susan added, the impact of food containing harmful substances can be bad for health.

"The long-term impact can be gastric irritation and cancer. That's why we do a lot of education," he explained.

While Assistant for Economics and Development (Asekbang) Bakwan Ferizan Ginting added, this supervision is to ensure that the takjil food is healthy for the community to consume.

"We just want to make sure that the food consumed by the public is safe from harmful ingredients," he added.

Bakwan stated that food that was positive did not meet the requirements had been withdrawn from sale and destroyed.

"We will investigate together with BPOM, where do they take the goods from and others. Hopefully there will be no more food containing hazardous substances being sold to the public," he said.