BPJPH: Processed Foods Detected Containing Pork Ingredients

Indonesia's Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) and the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) conducted coordinated oversight of the circulation of drugs and food involving halal-status claims. This coordination was based on a cooperation agreement the two signed in 2024 (BPJPH No. 10 and BPOM No. KS.01.01.2.06.24.05) on the oversight of halal product assurance in the drug and food fields. According to the oversight results, 11 batches of products from 9 processed foods were found to contain porcine ingredients, confirmed through laboratory testing on DNA and/or pork-specific peptide parameters. Of these 9 products, 9 batches from 7 products had already obtained halal certification, and 2 batches from 2 products had not. The list of processed foods detected as containing porcine ingredients is included in the annex to this press release. For the 7 products that had obtained halal certification and were marked halal, BPJPH imposed a withdrawal-from-circulation sanction. Such measures are prescribed under Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024 (on the implementation of the halal product assurance sector). For the other 2 products, because they were suspected of not providing truthful data in product registration, Indonesia's food and drug authority issued a warning and instructed the operators concerned to withdraw the products immediately, under the relevant provisions of the 2012 Food Law No. 18 and Government Regulation No. 69 of 1999 on food labeling and advertising. On this finding, BPJPH head Ahmad Haikal Hasan called on all relevant parties to comply with current laws and regulations. Halal certification is not only a mechanism for fulfilling administrative obligations, but also an expression of commitment to rules that must be followed and can be legally enforced. "A halal certificate is the expression of the halal standard set out in the halal product assurance system, and must be continuously implemented throughout the production of halal products, so that a product's halal status remains reliable over time," Ahmad Haikal Hasan explained. BPJPH and BPOM also stressed that they will continue to carry out product oversight in the field according to their respective duties. The two agencies also called on the public to actively participate in overseeing products in circulation.