JAKARTA (ANTARA) – Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Food, Zulkifli Hasan, said on Monday that the Indonesian government is preparing a sugar-content labeling policy for food and beverages, and plans to set up a food-safety task force.
Hasan said the policy was discussed at a meeting in Jakarta, which also marked the initial discussion on implementing Government Regulation (PP) No. 1 of 2026 on food safety.
“Reports show that many young people already have diabetes,” Hasan said after the meeting.
He said that, against the backdrop of rising cases of non-communicable diseases — including among young people — concerns have been raised about sugar consumption.
To address this, the government plans to form a cross-ministerial, cross-agency task force to develop a sugar-content labeling scheme for food and beverages, in order to raise public awareness.
The meeting also agreed to establish food-safety task forces at the central and regional levels, to respond more quickly to food-safety issues, including residue cases, contamination and food-safety emergencies.
Hasan said the task force will include relevant ministries and agencies, such as the National Police, the Ministry of Health and the Food and Drug Authority (BPOM).
The government also discussed the governance of processed-food products that circulate widely in the community, to ensure they comply with food-safety regulations.
“Products that can circulate in our country, including halal and non-halal standards, will also be discussed,” Hasan said.
BPOM Head Taruna Ikrar said the agency is coordinating the drafting of supporting regulations, including rules on labeling the content of sugar, salt and fat, or nutritional grading.
He said the regulations will be drafted based on international standards (including Codex guidelines) and the recommendations of the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization, and adapted to national conditions.
The government said the labeling policy and the task force aim to strengthen consumer protection, raise public awareness and clarify food-safety management mechanisms.
Government Regulation No. 1 of 2026 amends Government Regulation No. 86 of 2019 on food safety, to strengthen the monitoring, coordination and response to evolving food-safety risks.
FAQ
- What kind of sugar-labeling policy and food-safety task force is Indonesia preparing?
- Indonesia's government is preparing a sugar-content labeling policy for food and beverages and plans to set up a food-safety task force, as part of the initial discussion on implementing Government Regulation No. 1 of 2026 on food safety. Given rising cases of non-communicable diseases (including diabetes among young people), the government plans to form a cross-ministerial, cross-agency task force (including the National Police, the Ministry of Health and BPOM) to develop a sugar-content labeling scheme to raise public awareness, and to establish food-safety task forces at the central and regional levels to respond more quickly to residue cases, contamination and food-safety emergencies. BPOM is coordinating the drafting of supporting regulations (rules on sugar/salt/fat content labeling or nutritional grading), based on Codex guidelines and WHO and FAO recommendations, adapted to national conditions. Government Regulation No. 1 of 2026 amends Regulation No. 86 of 2019 to strengthen food-safety risk monitoring, coordination and response.