Rapid Screening of Ingredients

On 1 April 2024, Indonesia's National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) released interim results of its intensified Ramadan food surveillance. Officers sampled and rapid-tested iftar snacks, known locally as takjil, at 1,057 market locations covering 3,749 vendors. Of 9,262 samples, 102 (1.1 percent) contained substances banned in food: formalin (0.53 percent), rhodamine B (0.30 percent), borax (0.28 percent) and metanil yellow (0.01 percent). The share was slightly lower than the 1.17 percent recorded in 2023 (Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan [BPOM], 2024a).

The product list deserves attention from food businesses. Formalin was found in yellow noodles, anchovies, tofu, grass jelly, agar, squid, salted fish and shrimp paste, among others, and rhodamine B in cendol, tapioca pearls, sand crackers, red jelly, red jenang, pacar cina and rainbow noodles (BPOM, 2024b). Most are raw or semi-finished ingredients that restaurant kitchens, caterers and canteens buy daily from markets or small suppliers. This article explains one simple method to keep risky ingredients out of the kitchen, a rapid test at goods receipt, together with its steps and limits.

From Stall to Kitchen

BPOM noted that takjil is usually made by households in small batches with a short shelf life. Vendors found in breach receive guidance, and repeat offenders receive a warning. BPOM also acknowledged that monitoring such a widely spread trade is difficult, and invited the public to report food suspected of containing hazardous substances (BPOM, 2024b).

A small study shows that local rates can be far higher than the national average. Testing 12 snack samples around one university campus in November 2022 with rapid test kits found borax in 9 (75 percent) and formalin in 7 (58.33 percent), mainly in somay and cilok dumplings, while 3 drink samples contained no rhodamine B (Asmi et al., 2023). The sample is small and comes from a single location, so the figures cannot be generalised, but they show that the risk in small supply chains is real.

The Concept

The Codex general principles of food hygiene treat good hygiene practices as the foundation, with HACCP applied to hazards that need specific control. Hazard analysis under HACCP covers chemical hazards that can enter with raw materials, and control of incoming materials is part of basic hygiene practice (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & World Health Organization [FAO & WHO], 2023).

A rapid test is a colour-reaction screening tool. It gives a qualitative answer, positive or negative, not a concentration. Its sensitivity is limited: one study found that a formalin rapid test kit detected formalin in standard solutions from 10 mg/L, while a comparison reagent detected it from 2 mg/L. In food samples soaked in formalin, both detected it from 10 mg/L (Yulianti, 2021).

Steps at Receipt

Building on these principles, we propose the following steps for small and medium kitchens and food businesses:

• Map the risky ingredients. Start with the BPOM finding categories that your kitchen actually uses, such as tofu, wet noodles, anchovies, squid, salted fish, grass jelly and brightly coloured crackers.
• Set specifications and suppliers. Write down what an acceptable ingredient looks like and buy only from registered suppliers, so that every test result can be traced.
• Test at receipt. Sample every new supplier for the first few deliveries, then continue periodically. Follow the kit instructions on sample size, reaction time and colour reading.
• Keep tidy records. Note the date, supplier, ingredient, kit lot, result and tester, and photograph the colour result.
• Define the response to a positive result. Segregate the ingredient and do not cook it, contact the supplier, send a sample to an accredited laboratory for confirmation, and report to BPOM where appropriate.
• Review monthly. Compare results across suppliers and use them in supplier evaluation.

A Worked Example

A caterer buying tofu from 3 suppliers and testing each supplier twice a week will run 3 x 2 x 4 = 24 tests a month for that one ingredient. The number can be reduced for suppliers with consistently negative results over several months, and raised again for a new supplier, an unusual price drop or a high-demand season such as Ramadan. In our view, risk-based frequency of this kind is more realistic than testing every ingredient every day.

Limits of Use

Users need to understand the method's limits. A negative result only means the level is below the kit's detection limit, about 10 mg/L in the study above (Yulianti, 2021), not that the food is entirely free of it. Kit performance may also vary between brands and food types. A positive result is a signal to hold the ingredient, not proof against the supplier, so laboratory confirmation is still needed. Finally, a rapid test answers only for those four chemicals. Microbiological hazards, storage temperature and kitchen hygiene remain under hygiene practices and the HACCP plan (FAO & WHO, 2023).

Support Available

Nusa Safety can help F&B businesses write a goods receipt procedure, including the response to positive results, through SOP and technical guideline development, prepare receiving staff and cooks through custom training module development, and keep test records and supplier evaluations in digital form through HSE digitalization. Nusa Safety issues internal training certificates only.

This article is general information and not legal or professional advice for any specific case.

References

1. Asmi, N. F., Nurpratama, W. L., & Alamsah, D. (2023). Uji kandungan boraks, formalin dan rhodamin B pada makanan jajanan mahasiswa [Testing borax, formalin and rhodamine B in students' snack foods]. Jurnal SAGO Gizi dan Kesehatan, 4(2), 152-159. https://doi.org/10.30867/gikes.v4i2.1112
2. Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan. (2024a, April 1). Hasil intensifikasi pengawasan rutin khusus pangan selama Ramadan dan jelang Idulfitri 1445 H/tahun 2024 [Results of intensified food surveillance during Ramadan and ahead of Eid al-Fitr 1445 H/2024] (Press Release No. HM.01.1.2.04.24.30). https://www.pom.go.id/siaran-pers/hasil-intensifikasi-pengawasan-rutin-khusus-pangan-selama-ramadan-dan-jelang-idulfitri-1445-h-tahun-2024
3. Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan. (2024b, April 2). BPOM temukan 102 sampel takjil tidak memenuhi syarat [BPOM finds 102 non-compliant iftar snack samples]. https://www.pom.go.id/berita/bpom-temukan-102-sampel-takjil-tidak-memenuhi-syarat
4. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & World Health Organization. (2023). General principles of food hygiene (Codex Alimentarius Code of Practice No. CXC 1-1969). FAO and WHO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc6125en
5. Yulianti, C. H. (2021). Comparison of formalin detection test in foods using Antilin reagent and formalin rapid test kit (Labtest). Journal Pharmasci (Journal of Pharmacy and Science), 6(1), 53-58. https://doi.org/10.53342/pharmasci.v6i1.205