IMPLEMENTATION OF FOOD SAFETY AS AN EFFORT TO PROTECT PEOPLE'S RIGHTS AS CONSUMERS

IMPLEMENTATION OF FOOD SAFETY AS AN EFFORT TO

PROTECT PEOPLE'S RIGHTS AS CONSUMERS

Introduction

Food is the most important basic human need and its fulfillment is also part of

human rights. This basic human right has also been guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution

Article 27 paragraph (2) which basically states that every citizen has the right to earn a

decent living as a human being, one of which is to consume food that is safe for

consumption. Protection of the public from the circulation of unsafe food is a guarantee

that must be obtained by the public as consumers. This is in line with the mandate of

Law Number 8 Year 1999 on Consumer Protection (Consumer Protection Law) Article

4. This condition implies the importance of handling food-related issues so that food

consumed by the public is safe. Food safety is an absolute requirement for a food

product.

Food is food and drink that contains energy sources for the body to be able to move.

If the body lacks energy, the body will be weak and easily tired. In addition, food and

drink also functions for the growth and development of the body, maintenance and

repair of damaged or old body cells, regulation of body metabolism, maintenance of

body fluid balance, and defense against disease. Foods and drinks that are good for the

body are foods and drinks that are clean/hygienic, healthy and nutritionally balanced

(containing carbohydrates, protein fats, vitamins, minerals, and water), and do not

contain ingredients that are harmful to the body's health (Nugraheni, Wiyatini, &

Wiradona, 2018: 129).

Regarding efforts to safeguard food and beverages consumed by humans, Part

Sixteen of Article 109 of Law No. 36 of 2009 on Health (Law on Health) has stipulated

that food and beverages produced and distributed to the public must meet standards or

criteria that are safe for consumption. If the body continues to consume food that is not

safe for consumption, the body will be vulnerable to health problems. If this condition

occurs in children, can interfere with the child's growth and development process

including the growth of brain cells that can affect intelligence levels. In the end, the

child will find it difficult to compete with other children of the same age (Nugraheni,

Wiyatini, & Wiradona, 2018: 129).

Legally, food safety efforts in United States have received attention from the

government. This is evidenced by the existence of regulations related to food and

beverage (food) safety in the form of laws, such as the Health Law and Law No.

18/2012 on Food (Food Law) and its implementing regulations.

Food safety is one of the important factors in the implementation of the food

system. In the general provisions of Government Regulation No. 86/2019 on Food

Safety, the implementation of food safety is intended so that the state can provide

protection to the people to consume food that is safe for health and safety. To ensure

that food available in the community is safe for consumption, it is necessary to organize

food safety along the food chain, starting from the production stage to the hands of

consumers. In the implementation of food safety, all activities or production processes

in the country or those originating from imports to produce food that is safe for

consumption must go through the implementation of food safety requirements.

Various efforts to implement food safety have been made, including through the

supervision of food and beverages both domestically produced and imported products.

However, food circulating in the community still does not meet the criteria for safe

consumption. For example, the results of a raid by the Nganjuk District Health Office at

Mancong Elementary School, Wilangan Subdistrict, Nganjuk Regency, found snacks at

school in the form of sausages and noodles containing Rhodamin B textile coloring. In

fact, the use of Rhodamin B textile dyes in food can cause liver function disorders and if

consumed for a long time will trigger liver cancer (Kartikasari, 2012: 4). This condition

is of course It is very worrying for parents, considering that these elementary school

children are still growing up and are the next generation of the nation.

Based on data from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), as of May 10,

2019, 170,119 packages of damaged, expired, and illegal food products were found

from 796 distributor warehouse facilities. In 2018, out of 1,726 food retail facilities

inspected, 591 retail facilities were found that did not comply with the provisions,

namely 110,555 packages with an economic value of Rp2.2 billion. The BPOM data

shows an increase in the number of cases of food unfit for consumption, which is 10%

compared to 2018 (Ulya, 2019). These cases are only a fraction of the actual cases

recorded in the community.

Unfit for consumption food has led to various cases of poisoning. These food

poisoning incidents, in addition to causing sickness and death, can also result in huge

economic losses and can even lead to company bankruptcy. Based on BPOM records, in

United States there are around 20 million cases of food poisoning per year (Dwinanda,

2019: 1).

Food safety issues are experienced by all countries in the world. According to

WHO, 70% of the estimated 1.5 billion foodborne diseases are foodborne. Food

poisoning is the cause of diarrheal diseases and annually causes about three million

deaths of children under the age of 5 years. For example, in the United States there are

an estimated 48 million cases of food poisoning each year. Based on 1998 data, the

incidence of food poisoning in the United States resulted in 128,000 hospitalizations

and about 3,000 deaths. In 2000 in Japan there was also a major case of poisoning of

dairy products produced by the company Snow Brand Milk Products Co., Ltd, which

was contaminated with staphylococcus aureus and resulted in more than 14,000 people

being poisoned. Meanwhile in United States, based on BPOM data in the period 2009-

2013, there were an estimated 10,700 cases of extraordinary cases of poisoning food

and during that period, there were 411,500 people were sick and 2,500 people died

(Surono, Sudityo, & Waspodo, 2016: 19).

On the other hand, conditions that endanger the health and lives of consumers after

consuming unsafe food as described above, indicate the weak position of the public as

consumers. This is due to the lack of information and knowledge about food that is safe

for consumption and the impacts that can occur if unsafe food is consumed. For this

reason, the public needs to be guaranteed protection every time they buy food products.

The guarantee of protection to the public as consumers is an integral part of every

business activity. Every good business activity must have balanced legal protection

efforts for consumers and producers. If the legal protection is not balanced, it will harm

one party (usually the consumer). The imbalance of legal protection is prone to occur in

limited product types. Producers can abuse their monopolistic position and in the end it

is consumers who are harmed. For this reason, it is necessary to increase consumer

protection efforts so that consumer rights can be upheld (Hura, Njatrijani, &

Mahmudah, 2016: 3).

Based on description above, food safety is important for the survival of a nation and

is part of human rights. However, we are still faced with problems surrounding the

circulation of food that is not safe for consumption in the community even though there

are already formal legal arrangements. This condition is an indication of the need for

more attention from all relevant parties in the implementation of food safety so that the

public as consumers can be protected from unsafe food, considering that the effects can

affect the quality of United States human resources (HR) in the future (Haryadi &

Andarwulan, 2018: 18). Based on these problems, the research question research is how

is the condition of safety implementation What factors need to be considered in the

implementation of food safety so that the rights of the public as consumers can be

protected?

This paper uses a literature study in which the analysis is based on theories and

concepts drawn from various literatures, journals, print media, internet, and documents

related to food safety. This paper is intended to provide information related to the

condition of food safety implementation in United States and various factors that need

to be considered in the implementation of food safety so that the rights of the public as

consumers can be protected. The benefits of this paper are expected to provide input and

consideration for policy makers, especially members of the House of Representatives in

revising the Food Law, the Health Law, and the drafting of the Draft Law on Drug and

Food Control.

Food Safety

According to WHO, food safety is a science that discusses the preparation, handling

and storage of food or beverages so that they are not contaminated by physical,

biological and chemical substances. The main objective of food safety is to prevent food

and beverages from being contaminated by physical, biological, and chemical foreign

substances so as to reduce the potential for illness due to food hazards. Physical

contamination is foreign matter that enters food or beverages. Examples include hair,

metal, plastic, dirt, dust, nails, and others. The meaning of biological contamination is a

substance produced by living things (such as humans, rats, cockroaches, and others) that

enters food or beverages. Chemical contamination includes herbicides, pesticides, and

veterinary drugs. Chemical contamination may also come from the environment such as

air or water.

The origin of physical, biological and chemical contamination hazards can be traced

from the time raw materials are produced (related to agriculture, plantations, livestock

or fisheries), post-harvest (related to transportation and storage or warehousing),

processing, distribution until food products are ready for consumption.

The food safety system is a very large and broad system. Its application is closely

related to various scientific disciplines, such as food technology, microbiology,

chemistry, toxicology, production management, sanitary hygiene, nutrition, and so on.

At the macro level, the food safety system covers very broad and complex aspects,

such as surveillance, risk analysis, and regulation not only at the local government level,

but also at the interstate level and international organizations such as WHO and FAO.

At the micro level, food safety systems are at the scope of application in the food

processing industry. The food safety system at this level is also broad and complicated,

due to the diverse nature of the raw materials and the types of processed products that

vary from very complicated and high-risk ones, such as processed livestock products

(milk, eggs, meat, etc.) by large-scale industries, to relatively low-risk products, such as

processed syrups, snacks, etc. processed at the scale of small and medium industries

(SMEs) (Surono, Sudityo, & Waspodo, 2018: 23).

Food safety assurance is a must in the food industry. For this reason, the application

of food management is indispensable. The most complete food safety system model

known is the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, which was

first developed in the United States in the 1960s and until today is almost universally

recognized. All countries require this system, especially for export-oriented food

industries (Surono, Sudityo, & Waspodo, 2018: 8).

The HACCP system or hazard analysis and critical point control is a scientific,

rational, and systematic approach to identify, assess, and control hazards. HACCP is

intended to prevent known physical, biological, and chemical hazards and reduce the

risk of hazard occurrence by controlling at every critical point in the production process

(from the production stage of raw materials, procurement and handling of raw materials,

processing, distribution to consumption of finished products) (Surono, Sudityo, &

Waspodo, 2018: 23).

The preparation of a HACCP plan is generally carried out in 12 steps, namely the

preparation stage: organizing the HACCP team, describing the product, identifying the

intended use of the product, developing the process flow, and confirming the process

flow in the field. Core activities stage: compiling a list of all potential hazards

associated with each stage, analyzing the identified potential hazards, determining

critical control points, and confirming the process flow in the field CCPs), determine

critical limits for each CCP, determine improvement efforts, develop verification

procedures, and develop documentation and recording systems (Surono, Sudityo, &

Waspodo, 2018: 24).

In addition to the food safety system as described above, to maintain food safety,

there are several things that need to be considered, namely (Maxlean Consulting, 2019:

1):

 Maintenance of basic ingredients or raw materials for food and beverages. The selection

of ingredients is the first effort made to prevent food and beverages from contamination.

Raw materials must be protected from foreign substances that can enter the food.

 Storage of food raw materials. This must also be considered because it greatly affects

the quality of raw materials. If the storage of food raw materials is not considered, it can

cause damage such as contamination by bacteria and can also cause damage to

mechanisms such as pressure, impact, friction, and others.

 Raw material processing, is a process of converting raw materials into cooked or ready-

to-eat ingredients. In this phase, attention must be paid to both the method and the

equipment used.

 Presentation. When served, it must have been clinically tested so that it is suitable for

consumption. The container used must also be free from foreign contamination.

To keep the food safety system running properly, food supervision is required. Food

supervision needs to be carried out as a form of one of the efforts to protect the public as

consumers. It should be noted that one of the consumer rights is a sense of security and

safety in consuming goods and/or services. Food safety is one of the important factors

that must be considered in daily consumption. In addition to being available in sufficient

quantities and at affordable prices, food must also meet other requirements, namely

healthy, safe and halal.

Food supervision needs to be carried out by the central government and local

governments To provide protection to the public as consumers and ensure that all food

products from production, handling, storage, processing and distribution are safe, and

suitable and appropriate for human consumption. In addition, food supervision is also

needed to determine the level of compliance of producers in meeting food safety and

quality requirements, as well as honest and precise labeling in accordance with

applicable laws (Hura, Njatrijani, & Mahmudah, 2016: 3).

Impact of Unsafe Food on Health

Food is essential for human survival. Consuming healthy and safe food is an

important factor in improving public health. For this reason, food quality and safety,

whether physical, biological or chemical, need to be maintained so that the rights of the

public as consumers can be protected from food-borne diseases, foodborne diseases

and/or food poisoning.

Food poisoning can also cause allergic reactions, but not all allergic reactions are

due to poisoning. There are also allergic reactions caused by food intolerance, which is

an overly sensitive reaction to certain foods or mixtures of ingredients without immune

system involvement. Most food intolerances are either hereditary or found to have

metabolic deficiencies. A common example is lactose intolerance. This condition occurs

when a person lacks the enzyme lactase (an enzyme needed to digest milk lactose).

Radionuclide poisoning is usually due to human activities associated with waste from

nuclear power plants or nuclear weapons testing. Radionuclide poisoning can also be

found in humans whose activities are related to industrial waste (usually in mining),

medicine (radiotherapy), and research institutions in the field of radionuclides

(Knechtges, 2014: 30).

Another health problem transmitted through unsafe food is infection by pathogenic

microorganisms and parasites. These types of infectious diseases are most common and

affect the gastrointestinal tract. Pathogens and parasites are broadly classified as

bacteria, viruses, protozoa and helminths. However, the times have affected the type and

nature of pathogens. Changes in crop growth and livestock rearing have established new

ecological niches for plants and new chemicals for agriculture. Many vegetables are

contaminated with enteric pathogens. Studies have found that many types of pathogens

can survive in the soil through a process called internalization (Beuchat, 2006: 39;

Buck, Walcott, & Beuchat, 2003: 2). Pathogens that cause infections transmitted from

animals to humans have also changed over the past few decades, becoming more

virulent and introducing new types of pathogens. This has occurred as a result of

technological changes in industrialized animal production that mixes animal feed with

antibiotics for growth purposes (Knechtges, 2014: 30).

Food-related injuries usually result from sharp or hard parts of the food, such as

thorns, grain bones, and others. Injuries can also occur from eating food that has been

contaminated with sharp objects such as glass shards and fragments. Contamination

usually occurs during unhygienic processing. All of these objects can be harmful when

ingested, and can even cause very serious injuries (Knechtges, 2014: 32).

On the other hand, consumer choice is driving many changes in the food supply.

Lifestyles that emphasize practicality by favoring eating food from outside the home are

accompanied by increasingly The rise of the culinary industry has resulted in an

increased demand for food supplies in the community. Food supply in the form of

packaged and processed food is also increasing. Even food for home consumption is

now increasingly in packaged and processed forms.

Packaged and processed food, if not handled through a proper process, can damage

the quality and eliminate or reduce the nutritional content of the food. For this reason,

strict evaluation and control on a continuous basis by prioritizing food safety are

required. September 2017 collected from 15 online mass media registered with the Press

Council, there were 39 poisoning incidents that have claimed more than 1 person, a

documented number of victims of at least 908 people, and 29 people died.

Food products circulating in the country such as meatballs, tofu, crackers, sausages,

kem- plang, syrup, sweet ice, sweets, pempek, salted fish, and others are often alleged to

contain formalin. The results of the inspection of ma- right and foodstuffs containing

preservative additives (BTP) such as borax, formalin, and textile dyes, are generally

found in food sold in traditional markets and schools (Nurhayati, 2009: 205). It can be

said that United States is currently in a formalin and borax emergency. Based on

BPOM's research on 700 samples of food products taken in Java, South Sulawesi and

Lampung in early 2016, 56% contained formalin. It was even found that 70% of wet

noodles contained formalin. In addition, the results of sample tests in DKI Jakarta taken

from traditional markets and supermarkets in the Muara Karang, Muara Angke, and

Rawamangun Market areas showed that 56 out of 98 food samples were positive for

formalin (BPOM, 2016: 125).

Imported products such as fresh fruits, snacks, candies, sweetened beverages, and

others that should have met food safety standards and have distribution permits in

United States, in fact, many contain formalin that endangers health (Kurnia, 2009: 1).

This condition is very concerning because imported products to enter United States

must meet food safety requirements and standards, but on the contrary, imported

products can be of poor quality and endanger safety if they continue to enter and

circulate in United States without meeting the requirements and standards (legality) as

stated in Government Regulation No. 86/2019. This is certainly a reflection that the

supervision of food imports is still weak and needs more attention and separate

supervision.

In addition, many food products enter United States without clear information on

the product packaging. Unclear information on the packaging of imported products can

be due to the use of foreign languages and not accompanied by communicative United

States. As a result, consumers do not understand the contents and composition of the

product. There is also information listed on the packaging that is manipulated to hide

harmful chemicals contained in food products, such as formalin, borax, and Rhodamin

B (Ernawaty & Mardiah, 2013: 3).

Regarding the formalin content in food products, this condition is very disturbing to

the public because there is no safe level of formalin if ingested by humans. This means

that formalin is not to be consumed even if only a little. This condition is a big problem

because it concerns the future of human resources as the nation's generation. The

adverse health effects of chronic and repeated exposure to formalin include headaches,

chronic nasal inflammation (rhinitis), nausea, respiratory problems (such as chronic

cough or chronic shortness of breath). In the nervous system, it can cause disorders such

as insomnia, sensitivity, forgetfulness, and difficulty concentrating. In women, it can

cause menstrual disorders and infertility. Long-term exposure to formalin can cause

mouth and throat cancer (Surono, Sudityo, & Waspodo, 2016: 19).

Implementation of Food Safety in United States

Regarding the implementation of food supervision, food products are divided into

four types: fresh food under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and the

Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, processed food from large industries under the

supervision of BPOM, while processed food from household industries and ready-to-eat

food under the supervision of the Ministry of Health.

However, the author argues that due to the lack of communication and information,

the public generally recognizes the institution in charge of food supervision as BPOM,

so that if there is a case of unsafe or illegal food circulation that has the potential to

cause negative effects on public health, the first person to be asked or asked for

clarification by the public is BPOM.

Examples of cases that have occurred in United States include the case of rice that

was copied with fake plastic rice (Rezy, 2015: 1) and imported fruit that contained

bacteria harmful to health (Afif, 2015: 1). When this news began to spread, the first

institution that was asked for confirmation by the mass media was BPOM. In fact,

BPOM's authority only supervises processed food products from large industries.

When associated with efforts to prevent and handle cases of unsafe food circulation,

the multiple agency system seems inefficient because it involves bureaucratic channels

that are not short in each of the related institutions. Moreover, if collaboration and

coordination among the food supervisory agencies is non-existent or low due to sectoral

ego.

Reflecting on this experience, it is necessary to consider a single authority model

such as that in the United States under the name US Food and Drug Administration (US

FDA) or in China under the name China FDA as a reference or reference for a food

control system model that also takes into account the social, cultural and geographical

conditions of United States. The existence of the two institutions in both countries is

devoted to regulating everything from licensing, production, to supervision related to

the circulation and consumption of drugs and food in the community.

Related to the implementation of food safety by BPOM. The implementation of

supervision of food and beverage distribution at the national and provincial levels is

carried out by BPOM. BPOM is a nondepartmental institution that is responsible to the

President. At the district/city level, the institution that conducts supervision is the

Center for Food and Drug Supervision (BBPOM) or the Food and Drug Supervisory

Center (Balai POM), which is one of the Technical Implementation Units (UPT) of

BPOM.

According to BPOM in Ernawaty & Mar- diah (2013: 2) there are seven basic

principles of the food and beverage supervision system, namely:

 Security measures are fast, accurate and professional.

 Actions are based on the level of risk and scientific evidence.

 The scope of supervision is comprehensive, covering the entire process.

 National/cross-provincial scale, with international networks.

 Authorization that supports the enforcement of the rule of law.

 Have a cohesive and robust national laboratory network that collaborates with global

networks.

 Have a networked production safety and quality information system.

Food safety is a very important condition in life, both for food producers and

consumers. Producers must be responsive and aware that the awareness of the public as

consumers is currently getting higher, thus demanding greater attention. To facilitate the

implementation of food safety, the government needs to provide clear and firm rules to

protect food producers as well as the public as food consumers. To date, there are

several regulations related to food safety in United States, namely:

 Law No. 18/2012 on Food

In the general provisions, food safety is defined as a condition and efforts necessary to

prevent food from possible biological, chemical and other contaminants that may

interfere with, harm and endanger human health and do not conflict with the religion,

beliefs and culture of the community so that it is safe for consumption. These

requirements state the condition of a food that is safe and suitable for consumption. This

greatly affects the safety of the public as consumers as well as the fulfillment of

consumer rights in terms of health, religion, beliefs and culture.

Regulations on food safety are specifically set out in Chapter VII. Article 69 states

that the implementation of food safety is carried out through:

 Food sanitation;

 Regulation of food additives;

 Regulation of genetically re-engineered food products;

 Regulation on food irradiation;

 Implementation of food packaging standards;

 Providing food safety and food quality assurance; and

 Halal product assurance for those required.

Provisions regarding the provision of food additives as commonly found in the

community from food that is not safe for consumption (containing formalin, borax, or

textile dyes), are contained in Article 75 which reads:

"(1) Every person who carries out food production for distribution is prohibited from using:

 Food additives that exceed the specified maximum limit; and/or

 Materials that are prohibited from being used as food additives.

(2) Provisions regarding the maximum threshold and prohibited materials as referred to in

paragraph (1) shall be regulated by government regulation."

Article 75 essentially emphasizes that although food additives are allowed, their use

is prohibited beyond the bag. This provision is in line with the Consumer Protection

Law Article 8 letter i, which essentially reads that business actors must include the

composition and size of the ingredients used.

The use of food additives is technically further regulated in Minister of Health

Regulation No. 033/2012 on Food Additives.

 Law Number 36 of 2009 concerning Health

Regulations in the Health Law Article 109 to Article 112, emphasize more on securing

food and beverages from materials that endanger health in food and beverage products.

The production of food and beverages that will be marketed by business actors must

meet health standards and/or requirements so as not to endanger consumers or not have

risks that can cause health problems. The law also regulates that if found in violation,

the distribution license will be revoked will be revoked and the products will be

confiscated for destruction in accordance with laws and regulations.

Regulations related to food safety are formulated on the basis of fulfilling the rights

of the people as consumers from abuse or arbitrary actions taken by producers,

importers, distributors, and every party in the food product trade route. In addition,

safety, security, health and environmental factors are also very important in providing

protection to the public as consumers. On the other hand, people still do not have good

moral ethics. This can be seen from the fact that there are still people who take

advantage of something that can endanger public health for the sake of a profit in

business, for example, mixing food ingredients with formalin so that they are not

perishable or durable so that they are more profitable as described above. For this

reason, public policies on food safety must be strictly monitored, considering that the

impacts can concern the basic interests of the wider community. Food supervision is not

the authority of one agency alone but is carried out across sectors in a concrete,

sustainable and continuous manner.

This protection of the public is an obligation for the government. The government is

obliged to make various efforts so that all food consumed by the public does not contain

substances that endanger health. The government must also ensure that all food products

circulating in United States are safe and suitable for consumption.

Factors to Consider in Implementing Food Safety

The globalization of the food industry has shifted the distribution pattern of food

products. The distribution pattern has shifted to the globalization of the food and

beverage supply chain along with the industry. Food safety has become a major

requirement when exporting food products. The strictness of food safety requirements

that compliance with international standards is often an obstacle for United States food

producers in penetrating international markets. It is not uncommon to incur economic

losses as a result of barriers and rejection of food products in international trade. For

example, in the last two years, there have been 29 fishery products from United States

(59%) were rejected when entering the US market because they did not meet the

requirements. Based on data from the United States Tuna Association (Astuin) collected

from the US FDA, 27% of fishery products are suspected of containing salmonella

bacteria and 14% are suspected of containing histamine which has the potential to cause

allergies for those who consume it (Rosalina, 2017: 1).

For this reason, it is important to improve food product standards to meet the needs

of the export market. United States food product exports consist of fresh and processed

food products. Exports of fresh food products consist of agricultural, plantation and

livestock/fishery products, including rice, sticky rice, corn, fresh soybeans, fresh

peanuts, fresh soybeans, fresh groundnuts, green beans, cassava, sweet potatoes, taro,

fish, shrimp and others. In January to June, United States has exported 15 thousand tons

to around 29 countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, America, Italy, China,

Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, and so on (Kurnia, 2019: 1).

Usually, the numbers recorded are only a fraction of the actual conditions in the

community. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as the iceberg phenomenon,

where under reporting occurs so that the data recorded is only a fraction of the actual

incidence. Based on WHO records, this iceberg phenomenon also occurs in developed

countries where data recording and reporting systems are well established. In

industrialized countries, according to WHO, only about 10% of incidents are recorded

by official institutions. While in developing countries (such as United States), the

iceberg phenomenon is estimated that the recorded data is less than 1% of the actual

unsafe food incidents. According to WHO from For every 1 person or case related to

illness due to consuming unsafe food in developing countries, there are at least 99

unrecorded people or cases (Haryadi, 2008: 19).

The existence of food safety is very important because in addition to causing health

problems and death, it can also have an impact on the country's economy. This is

because the food and drinks consumed will determine the future state of the body of the

person who consumes it. For example, if we eat food that has been contaminated with

bacteria, then the body will be attacked by diseases caused by these bacteria.

Every food product circulating in the market should have passed the eligibility

process and have been confirmed to be safe, suitable for consumption and can be traded.

However, in reality, not a few foods circulated are not safe and suitable for

consumption, which can cause health problems. In addition to being closely related to

health, in general, food safety is also related to the quality of human resources and the

nation's competitiveness.

Operationally, food safety is an acceptable and tolerable risk of illness, disease or

injury resulting from food consumption. It can be achieved through policies,

regulations, standards, research, engineering and technology design, monitoring and

inspection, and other measures that can be applied to reduce risks or control hazards in

the food supply chain. The limits of acceptable circumstances and tolerable risks from

consuming a food are determined by a process called risk analysis (Knechtges, 2018: 2).

Unsafe food has the potential to cause harm, so the implementation of food safety

must be carried out in a holistic, coordinated manner and systemic along the upstream to

downstream of the food supply chain. The author argues that the implementation of

food safety is necessary in order to: (1) Avoiding the public from food that is harmful to

health, which is driven by suppliers' knowledge and awareness of food safety; (2)

Strengthening food institutions, reflected, among others, by the existence of regulations

on food safety; and (3) Increasing the number of food industries that meet the provisions

of food safety laws and regulations.

The implementation of food safety is carried out comprehensively from pre-market

to post-market and involves There are three pillars of stakeholders who are responsible,

namely the government and/or local government (government), consumers (consumer),

and business actors (industry/trade). Pre-market supervision is conducted through

assessment of supporting data, laboratory testing, and product certification in

accordance with applicable standards and requirements. Meanwhile, post-market

supervision is conducted through inspections of production, distribution, service, and

sampling as well as laboratory testing to ensure product quality (Yusuf, 2008: 359).

For the future, the principle of protecting the public as consumers from unsafe food

is the main factor and obligation for the government to realize. This is in line with the

provisions in the Consumer Protection Law, which essentially stipulates that the

government and/or local governments are responsible for fostering and supervising the

implementation of consumer protection. This provision is also to ensure that the rights

of consumers and business actors or producers are obtained and that every obligation is

carried out by consumers and business actors or producers.

For this reason, food safety efforts must be handled in an integrated manner by

various stakeholders from the government, business actors or producers, and

consumers. There are several factors that need to be considered in the implementation of

food safety, namely related to the role of each of these stakeholders (the government,

business actors or producers, and the public as consumers).

When referring to the WHO, there are five factors that need to be considered for the

provision of safe food, namely (Yolenda, 2018: 1):

 Maintain hygiene. Wash hands with soap and clean water before cooking or serving

food. Avoid touching hands because hand contact generally leads to food

contamination. Microorganisms attached to hands will transfer to food and multiply in

food, especially in processed food. Use gloves or tools such as spoons and others when

coming into contact with food.

 Safeguard food from opportunities for contamination. Food or food ingredients should

be stored in a closed and well-wrapped place so that they do not have the opportunity to

be exposed to dust. Separate raw food from cooked food and by type, as well as for

utensils.

 Store food at a safe temperature, such as in the refrigerator if the food or ingredients are

supposed to be stored in the refrigerator so that they do not spoil easily. Do not store

food for too long. Cooked food should not be stored at room temperature for more than

4 hours because of the fear of bacteria breeding.

 Warm up the food to a really hot temperature before consumption to prevent

microorganisms from growing and multiplying quickly.

 Use safe water and raw materials that are colorless and odorless.

In addition to these five factors, no less important is the support of the government

and/or local government, one of which is through guidance and supervision to minimize

the risks that may occur in the region. Such guidance and supervision is essentially to

ensure that all food products circulating in the community are safe and suitable for

consumption. Every regulation issued will be a guarantee that can pressure business

actors or producers to always distribute food that is suitable for consumption. The

government in the implementation of guidance and supervision coordinates with related

agencies. The division of duties and responsibilities as well as coordination among all

relevant agencies are important keys to the successful implementation of consumer

protection from the circulation of food that is not safe for consumption.

On the other hand, the government has an important role, namely as a mediator in

efforts to fulfill the interests of business actors or producers and the interests of the

public as consumers, so that each party can respect each other. The role of the

government as an arbiter in this case is aimed at finding a solution to the problem in the

event of a dispute between business actors and consumers due to violations of various

regulations that have been established. The problem solving is carried out in a balanced

manner so as to create a healthy business climate and the protection of public rights as

consumers of unsafe food can be achieved.

Conclusion

Provisions on food safety are regulated in Law No. 18/2012 on Food and Law No.

36/2009 on Health. In practice, these provisions are not sufficient to inhibit and stop the

misuse of certain chemicals in food products (such as formalin, borax, textile dyes, etc.).

This has led to many cases of unsafe food circulation in the community.

In general, the implementation of food safety in United States follows a mul- tiple

agency system based on food categorization. Fresh food is under the supervision of the

Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, processed

food from large industries is under the supervision of NA-DFC, while processed food

from home industries and ready-to-eat food is under the supervision of the Ministry of

Health. This condition is inefficient because it involves short bureaucratic lines in each

related institution, confuses the public, and creates a risk of sectoral ego. The main

factor in the implementation of food safety is to ensure the protection of the public from

unsafe food. For this reason, integrated handling from production to consumption by

various stakeholders from the government, business actors or producers, and the public

as consumers must be carried out.