INDONESIA HAS TO RAISE MILK PRODUCTION

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 18 (Antara) - Indonesia has to increase its fresh milk production to meet its domestic consumption needs, which reach some 7 million liters daily, and to reduce its imports that account for about 80 percent of the needs.         Besides that, it also needs to increase its consumption, as the Indonesian people still consume low amount of milk, accounting for about 12.1 liters per capita per annum.         "Based on the data from the Agriculture Ministry, the per capita milk consumption in 2015 was only 12.1 liters per annum," Legislator Dwita Ria Gunadi said in a written statement in Jakarta last week (Nov 10).          Dwita, of Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR) said that the government should increase milk production and consumption, because the per capita milk consumption in the country is still lower than other Asian countries.         As of now, Indonesia produces only about 20 percent of the 7 million liters required daily. According to Cooperatives, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SME) Minister Puspayoga, Indonesia must not allow this situation to continue.

INDONESIA NEEDS TO BOOST ITS MILK PRODUCTION

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 10 (Antara) - Calcium-rich milk is something that children, adults and even the elderly need to maintain their health and ensure their bones remain strong to support the body.          Yet, Indonesia, with a population of about 250 million, is not yet able to produce adequate milk to meet its domestic needs. As of now, it produces only about 20 percent of the seven million liters required daily.          According to Cooperatives, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SME) Minister Puspayoga, Indonesia must not allow this situation to continue.          Milch cow farmers must increase and maintain the quality of their milk production. All milk produced domestically, including by members of cooperatives, should be absorbed by the milk-processing industry (IPS) in order to meet the domestic need and reduce imports.          An executive of one of the country's food and drinks company, PT Nestle Indonesia, argued that to increase productivity and improve the quality of milk, local milch cow farmers should adopt sustainable breeding practices.

ALL MILK BRANDS IN RI FOUND SAKAZAKII-FREE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 8 (ANTARA)  - Six months after mothers made a public fuss about formula milk  tainted by  Enterobacter Sakazakii , the Health Ministry has once again announced  that  all milk brands in circulation were free from the dangerous bacteria.          "When we conducted research and tests on  samples of all brands of formula milk circulating in Indonesia in 2011, we did not find any brand that was contaminated by Enterobacter Sakazakii bacteria," Trihono, head of the research and development center of the Health Ministry, said on Friday.          The results of the tests were made public in a joint press conference with Food and Drug Supervision Agency (BPOM), Bogor-Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and the Attorney General's Office.          The three institutions (the ministry, BPOM, IPB) were ordered last year by the Supreme Court (MA) to make public the results of tests by IPB on formula milk which it found that some of the samples were contaminated by Enterobacter Sakazakii bacteria.          The IPB conducted the tests on the samples of infant formula milk taken between 2003 and 2006 and found that 20 percent of the samples were contaminated by Sakazakii bacteria. However, the brands of the tainted milk have never been made public.          Thus, the brand names of the baby milk remained unknown to the public and caused unrest among mothers whose babies consumed formula milk.          Virtually, cases related to infections by Enterobacter Sakazakii bacteria are rare, where the World Health Organization (WHO) only recorded 48 infants infected with the bacteria within the period of 1961 and 2003.           "We have no report on the case so far in Indonesia," Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said recently.  She said that Sakazakii bacteria were particularly dangerous to infants aged below 28 days, born with low weights, born prematurely and those with unstable conditions. The bacteria can easily be killed in 15 seconds with hot water of about 70 degrees Celsius.          Yet mothers remained worried. Therefore, last February, the House of Representatives (DPR) urged the government to announce the names of the tainted milk.          "We urged parties mentioned in the Supreme Court's verdict to immediately make public the results of the IPB research on formula infant milk which was circulated in the market within the period of 2003 and 2006," Ribka Tjiptaning, chairwoman of the House's Commission IX on health affairs said.           Previously, David Tobing, a resident, has sued the IPB at the Supreme Court, demanding that IPB release the brands of the spoiled milk. The Supreme Court in 2010 ruled in favor of David and issued a verdict ordering the Health Ministry, the Food and Drug Supervision Agency and IPB to announce the brands of the contaminated milk.          However, so far, the IPB remained silent over the results of its study which found that the samples of infant milk it took in 2003 - 2006 were contaminated by sakazakii bacteria.          The institutions opted to conduct more tests on the products produced more recently, instead of naming the brands of tainted milk whose samples were taken in the 2003 - 2006 period.          Therefore, the BPOM conducted tests on the samples of  the same product taken from 2008 to 2011 and announced that it did not find any contamination by Sakazakii bacteria.  Of the samples, 96 were taken in March 2008, 11 in 2009, 99 in 2010 and 18 samples were taken until February 2011.          With regard to the results of the tests, the Indonesian Consumers Institute (YLKI) said that basically the tests should satisfy consumers, yet they also needed explanations to eliminate their concern.          "It is no longer relevant to talk about brands of 2003-2006. Yet, to eliminate concern among parents whose infants consume formula milk, the government must focus on explaining the impact of the bacteria on the development of babies," said YLKI chair person Husna Zahir.          In an effort to ascertain consumers, the government once again announced on Friday the results of its latest tests on all brands of milk circulation in the country.          Trihono said that the samples were taken both from traditional  and supermarkets throughout Indonesia by the BPOM during the March - April 2011 period. The tests were conducted on the samples of 47 brands, both imported and domestically produced milk.          A total of 183 samples were tested in three laboratories, of which 59 samples were tested in the research and development of the health ministry, 60 samples at the BPOM and 64 others were tested in the Bagor-based Institute of Agriculture laboratory. And none of the samples contained the Enterobacter Sakazakii bacteria.          "We are asked to carry out the Supreme Court decision but we cannot do that. As a way out we offered to conduct a repeated test on all brands of milk formula circulating in Indonesia in 2011," Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said at the joint press conference on Friday.          However, from the legal aspect based on the MK verdict, the three institutions had the obligation to reveal the brands of the tainted milk.          Therefore, health ministry and BPOM will file a judicial review of the MA verdict which orders them to disclose the brands of 2003 - 2006 milk samples that were contaminated by the bacteria.          Director for Civil Case at the office of the Junior Attorney General for Civil Case and State Administrative Affairs,  Faithoni said at the joint press conference that there was still a way to file a judicial review (PK) of the MK verdict.          "We cannot yet carry out the MA verdict," said Faidhoni.          The Attorney General's Office will represent the Health Ministry and BPOM in the fight against the lawsuit of David Tobing who asked the health ministry, BPOM and IPB to make public the contents of the IPB tests on the tainted formula milk.          The legal  fight is intended to postpone the execution of the MA order because the health ministry and BPOM have no data about the samples because it was an independent test by the IPB.***3*** (A014/A/HAJM/21:15/A/S012) 08-07-2011 21:18

INDONESIA NEEDS TO INCREASE DAIRY PRODUCTION

BY Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 6 (ANTARA) - Indonesia which has a population of 237.6 million is a big market for dairy products but so far its own milk production is still low so that it has to import most of its need for the food stuffs.          Indonesia has to import about 70 percent of its milk need while its fresh milk production is still low at about 1.4 million liters per day. Its per capita consumption is also low at about 11 liters a year.          Agriculture Minister Suswono said that the average milk consumption rate of the Indonesian people was still very low compared with those of other countries, namely about 11 liters per capita per year.          "The Indonesian people only consume about 11 liters of milk per capita per year. It accounts for only one-third of Malaysia's average milk consumption which is about 36 liters per capita per annum, let alone if it is compared with those of the Unite States and the Netherlands," the minister said  after attending the National Milk Day 2011 in Semarang on Saturday.         The present rate of Indonesian people's per capita milk consumption has actually increased compared with that about four years ago. This was thanks to the people's awareness of the health benefits of milk.          In 2007, Indonesian per capita milk consumption was about 7.7 kg a year and this increased by about 6 percent in 2008. There are three types of consumer products that continue to dominate the market, namely powdered milk, sweetened condensed milk, and liquid-ready to drink milk.         Consumption of liquid milk, powdered milk, and sweet condensed milk were growing by 20 percent, 10-12 percent, and 20 percent respectively in 2007.          By 2009, the per capita milk consumption of the people relatively remained low as compared to those other countries, namely about 10 liters per capita a year. This is far below that of Malaysia which reached 30 liters per capita per annum.          Last year, the Indonesian per capita milk consumption only rose slightly to 11 kg a year while that of Malaysia has risen to 36 liters.          Therefore, the government continues to make efforts to increase the people's average milk consumption rate, among others by raising the people's awareness of the benefit of consuming milk through celebrating the Nusantara Milk Day.         The Nusantara Milk Day was on Saturday observed in Semarang, Central Java, where the function carried a theme: "A Glass of Fresh Milk Per Day," he said.         Through the observance of the Indonesian milk day, the people are expected to raise their awareness of the benefit and the need to consume milk. But for this, efforts must be supported by increased local milk production, as so far the country still imports most of its need.          Minister Suswono said that about 70 percent of the country's need for milk was still imported while the domestic national milk production could only meet 30 percent of the people's need.          The minister said that due to its condition, the country's milk production was not yet able to meet the people's need for milk  because the milk production business at home was still done in small scale.         "We also need to improve the country's milk production management, such as the need to improve the hygiene aspect and its originality," the minister said.          Since in the past several years, Indonesian milk production has not yet increased significantly. Indonesian fresh milk production remained stagnant in 2007 at 1.2 million liters per day and could only meet 25 percent of overall Indonesian milk demand.          The gap was fulfilled from imports. Despite the soaring price of non fat dry milk as well as whole milk powder in the international market, imports of non fat dry milk are forecast to continue growing as demand remained firm.          According to a ministry of agriculture official, Indonesia still had to import 76.5 percent of its milk need in 2009 as domestic production could only meet 23.45 per cent of the need.          Local milch-cow farmers produced some 1.3 million to 1.4 million liters of milk per day, of which 97 percent were supplied to domestic milk processing industries.          Economic and cooperative observer Sri Edi Swasono said the government should provide a subsidy for about 120,000 local milk producers in Java, and give them the needed facilities so that domestic milk producers and industries would develop well.          Thousands of milk producers are grouped in about 95 centers of cooperatives units under the Indonesian Milk Cooperatives Movement.          Based on data quoted by the online media the CattleSite.com, Indonesian milk production is sourced from around 320,000 cattle largely located in three milk-producing areas in Java.          West Java's dairy cooperatives used to produce the highest amount of milk, but the position was taken over by East Java's dairy cooperatives in 2004 when the price of beef skyrocketed so that farmers received more from culling their dairy cattle for beef versus looking after the cattle for milk.          By 2007, West Java's dairy cooperative produces approximately 400,000 liters of milk per day while East Java produces 600,000 liters of milk per day. The balance is produced by Central Java and other parts of Indonesia.          In order to boost local milk production,  Central Java Governor Bibit Waluyo suggested on Saturday that milk imports from other countries should be reduced  but imports of milch cows must be increased, young cows.         "About 70 percent of the national need for milk is imported while another 30 percent are met by locally produced milk," the governor said.         He said that the big volumes of imported milk had caused local milch cow breeders to face difficulties in developing their business because imported milk put on the market usually had better quality and cheaper price.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/20:10/a014) 06-06-2011 20:12:

CONSUMERS WANT TO KNOW BRANDS OF TAINTED BABY MILK

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 14 (ANTARA) - The House of Representatives (DPR) and the National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) have urged the government to make public the brands of infant milk, whose samples according to tests conducted between 2003 and 2006, contained Enterobacter Sakazakii bacteria which could attack infant's brain membranes and digestive tissues.          The Bogor-based Institute of Agriculture (IPB) conducted tests on the samples of infant formula milk taken between 2003 and 2006 and found that 20 percent of the samples were contaminated by sakazakii bacteria. However, the brands of the tainted milk have never been made public.          This reason has led David Tobing, a resident, to sue the IPB at the Supreme Court, demanding that IPB release the brands of the spoiled milk. The Supreme Court in 2010 ruled in favor of David and issued a verdict ordering the Health Ministry, the Food and Drug Supervision Agency (BPOM) and IPB to announce the brands of the contaminated milk.          Yet, the brand names of the baby milk remained unknown to the public and caused unrest among mothers whose babies consume formula milk. Therefore, the DPR urged the government to announce the names of the tainted milk.          "We urged parties mentioned in the Supreme Court's verdict to immediately made public the results of the IPB research on formula infant milk which was circulated in the market within the period of 2003 and 2006 ," Ribka Tjiptaning, chairwoman of the House's Commission IX on health affairs said on Sunday.          She said that it was clear in the Supreme Court's verdict that the ministry of health, BPOM and IPB were obliged to make public the milk brands. But up to now, parties mentioned in the verdict have not done so. There is an impression that the parties mentioned by the Supreme Court verdict were reluctant to obey the legal decision.          "Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih adversely talked a lot about things that were safe from the danger of sakazakii bacteria and claimed her side was not informed of the brands of milk suspected to have contained the bacteria," Tjiptaning said.          On the other hand, instead of announcing the brands of milk said to be contaminated, the BPOM has been busy talking about the results of its recent tests on the same products circulating in the 2008 - 2010 period, which it said had no contamination.           The IPB also remains silent over the results of its study which found that the samples of infant milk it took in 2003 - 2006 were contaminated by sakazakii bacteria. Leaders of IPB also tightly keep themselves silent, even if demand for the publication of the results of its study is increasing.           The demand for the publication of the IPB finding also came from the National Consumers Protection Agency (BPKN).           "We have sent a letter to the relevant ministry and IPB asking them to disclose to the public the brands of the milk said to be contaminated by enterobacter sakazakii bacteria," BPKN chairperson Suarhatini Hadad said.           She said that actually it was not too important now to announce the contaminated brands because according to the latest test by the BPOM all brands of formula milks circulating in the market are free from the bacteria, but for the sake of clarification to the public the BPKN called on the relevant institutions to announced them.          The Indonesia Consumers Institute Foundation (YLKI) concurred with the BPKN opinion, saying that clarifications made by the BPOM were actually already enough.          "Clarifications by the BPOM were enough for those consuming milk now, yet for those who consumed the milk when study was conducted may need explanations.  The governmet should explain the short-and-long term impacts of consuming it. If it has no impact, the people need not worry about it," YLKI chairperson Husna Zahir said.          The test conducted by the BPOM on the samples of the same product taken from 2008 to 2011 did not find any contamination by sakazakii bacteria. Of the samples, 96 were taken in March 2008, 11 in 2009, 99 in 2010 and 18 samples were taken until February 2011.          "It is no longer relevant to talk about brands of 2003-2006. Yet, to eliminate concern among parents whose infants consume formula milk, the government must focus on explaining the impact of the bacteria on the development of babies," said Husna.          Previously, Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih has explained that cases related to infections by Enterobacter Sakazakii bacteria are rare, where the World Health Organization (WHO) only recorded 48 infants infected with the bacteria within the period of 1961 and 2003.          "We have no report on the case so far in Indonesia," the minister told the press last week.          She said that Sakazakii bacteria were particularly dangerous to infants aged below 28 days, born with low weights, born prematurely and those with unstable conditions.          The bacteria can easily be killed in 15 seconds with hot water of about 70 degrees Celsius. Thus, if infants are to be fed with formula milk, mothers should use boil water and sterile bottles.          Minister Endang Sedyaningsih said that good preparation would decrease the risk of bacteria infection in babies.          "The bacteria can live in a dry product, but will die if exposed to heat of 70 degrees Celsius for 15 seconds," she said.     (T.A014/A/HAJM/12:55/f001) 14-02-2011 12:57

IMPORTED MILK THREATENS LOCAL PRODUCERS

By Andi Abdussalam