Jakarta – The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) will conduct an investigation following unconfirmed reports that food trays used in President Prabowo Subianto's free nutritious meal program were tainted with non-halal substances.
Chairman of the BPOM Taruna Ikrar said the agency would assign a team of its scientists to conduct laboratory tests to check if food trays, which were imported from China, contained non-halal substances, specifically pork lard.
"The BPOM will follow up on the allegation with tests. We have laboratories that will allow us to conduct the tests," Taruna was quoted by Antara as saying.
Taruna gave no details on when the testing would wrap up but he said his team would kick off the probe in the near future.
"We will follow this up as quickly as possible," he said, adding that the agency would not only look for porcine DNA but also other chemical compounds in trays imported from China, including glycerin and gelatin.
An unconfirmed report circulating on social media published by an outlet known as the Indonesia Business Post claimed to have conducted an investigation in the Chaoshan region, in the eastern part of China and found that metal trays bound for Indonesia were treated with pork lard during their manufacturing process.
President Prabowo had touted the free meals scheme as a solution to the high rates of stunting among children, as he carved his way to a landslide election victory last year.
But its rollout since January has stumbled from crisis to crisis, including accusations of nepotism, funding delays, protests and a spate of food poisoning incidents.
The program is slated to reach as many as 17.5 million children this year and cost US$4.3 billion.