TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) discovered instant coffee sachets containing chemical drugs (BKO) in Bogor Regency and Bandung City.

As quoted from its official website pom.go.id page on March 4, the agency detected three brands of coffee sachets containing paracetamol and sildenafil during the operation against illegal facilities of food and traditional medicine production in the two regions. They are Kopi Jantan, Kopi Cleng, and Kopi Bapak.

“These products are suspected to contain drugs (BKO) of paracetamol and sildenafil. BKO is prohibited from being used in traditional medicine and processed food,” said the agency head Penny K. Lukito in a written statement, Saturday, March 5.

In addition to the three coffee brands, the agency also confiscated several brands of herbal medicine containing similar drugs, namely Spider, Urat Madu, and Jakarta Bandung.

“If [chemical drugs] are not used according to their safe doses, it will likely pose a high risk and side effects that can endanger health,” Penny remarked.

During the operation, the agency also detected 15 types or 5,791 processed food items and 36 types or 18,212 items of traditional medicine containing chemical drugs, as well as production materials and raw materials for illegal drugs containing paracetamol and sildenafil.

Penny estimated that the economic value of this evidence amounted to Rp1.5 billion.

As reported earlier on Tuesday, March 8, BPOM also launched cyber patrols to monitor drug and food sales, including the instant coffee sachets containing chemical drugs, in various marketplaces.

Read: Best Time to Drink Coffee to Boost Energy

AMELIA RAHIMA SARI