BPOM: Indomie Variant Banned in Taiwan Safe to Consume

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency (BPOM) announced it guaranteed the safety of an Indomie instant noodle variant produced by food producer giant Indofood. This subsequently came after the Taiwanese health department temporarily banned the sales of Indomie’s Ayam Spesial (special chicken) on April 24, over findings of carcinogenic substances. 

Citing the BPOM written statement on Thursday, Taiwan has ordered the recall of the instant noodle products due to findings of Ethylene oxide, the chemical linked to lymphoma and leukemia, in the packages that are strictly banned by the local health authorities. 

"Taipei City Health Authorities reported the presence of 0.187 mg/kg (ppm) EtO in the Indomie Chicken Special’s seasoning," the statement reads, which was confirmed by the BPOM spokesperson Noorman Effendi, state news agency Antara reported.  

Taiwan bans the use of EtO in food. The analytical method used by the Taiwan FDA is the determination of 2-Chloro Ethanol (2-CE), the test results of which are converted as EtO. Therefore, an EtO level of 0.187 ppm is equivalent to a 2-CE level of 0.34 ppm.

Meanwhile, Indonesia has set a 2-CE Maximum Residue Limit (BMR) of 85 ppm through the BPOM Head Decree No 229/2022 concerning Guidelines for Mitigating Health Risks of Ethylene Oxide Compounds based on international standards regulated by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC).

Thus, the 2-CE level detected in the Indomie instant noodle sample in Taiwan was 0.34 ppm, which is objectively still far below the 2-CE BMR in Indonesia and in a number of other countries, such as the United States and Canada.

To date, Codex as an international food standard organization reportedly has not set a maximum limit for EtO residues as some countries still allow the use of EtO as a pesticide.

ANTARA

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