BGN asks MBG kitchen to check raw materials before cooking

Illustration. Appearance of the first menu of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program in Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara Province, on Monday, January 13, 2024. ANTARA-Nirkomala.

JAKARTA - The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) asked nutrition supervisors, financial supervisors, field assistants, and all teams of the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) to check the raw materials before cooking in the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) kitchen.

Deputy Head of BGN for Public Communication and Investigation Nanik Sudaryati Deyang conveyed this to ensure that the food received by the beneficiaries is in good condition and safe to prevent food safety incidents.

"If from the beginning there are signs that the ingredients are not suitable, such as unhealthy chickens, vegetables that are not fresh, or tofu that is of poor quality, immediately return it to the partner," Nanik said in an official statement in Jakarta, Monday, quoted by Antara.

Nanik also reminded nutrition and finance supervisors to reject all forms of intervention from SPPG partners in the operation of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) kitchen, especially if the intervention concerns changes to the menu that have been prepared by the nutrition supervisor.

He said that interventions were often made under the pretext that nutrition supervisors were still junior, inexperienced, and did not understand the price of food.

"Report to me. If there is an intervention, I will immediately close the kitchen. The preparation of the menu has nothing to do with partners, let alone changing the menu that has been prepared by the nutrition supervisor. If anyone dares to change, I will suspend it," he said.

According to Nanik, the assumption that the MBG kitchen manager is still junior and does not understand the price of food is just an excuse. He assessed that the intervention has the potential to encourage the use of low-quality raw materials for greater profits.

"This is the beginning of poisoning, because the selection of raw materials is not appropriate," said Nanik.

Nutrition supervisors and chefs are also asked to understand how to handle food ingredients and technical instructions for using kitchen equipment. Food safety incidents due to incorrect handling of ingredients or use of tools that do not meet standards.

When the ingredients arrive and their quality has been checked, for example chicken, the nutrition supervisor must be able to determine whether the ingredients need to be boiled immediately or stored in a refrigerator with a temperature below 5 degrees Celsius.

Nanik gave an example of an incident in Magelang, where chickens were stored in a cooler with a temperature of 19 degrees Celsius. This condition causes the development of salmonella bacteria and leads to cases of poisoning experienced by around 200 people.

A similar situation also occurred at one of the SPPGs in Boyolali, Central Java, which last week experienced a food safety incident. In this case, the SPPG partner is known to only provide used refrigerators and refrigerators in an unserviceable condition.

Therefore, Nanik asked chefs who better understand the condition of the equipment to immediately report to the head of the SPPG to ask for a replacement of the equipment to the partner.

Partners are responsible for providing new and quality kitchen equipment in accordance with technical instructions that do not meet the obligations will be subject to a suspension of work until the obligations are met.

"If the equipment is damaged or unusable, don't force it. Tell the head of the SPPG to ask for a replacement. We are renting, so if the equipment is damaged, the partner must replace it with equipment that meets the existing standards and regulations. Don't let it be like in Boyolali, all the equipment is in used condition and has problems," he said.