"We will not only focus our search on milk samples contaminated by sakazakii bacteria but also milk containing other bacteria."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) is to conduct tests on all formula milk brands distributed in Indonesia, Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said here on Tuesday.
The minister was responding to the polemics that had arisen lately after the Bogor-based Institute of Agriculture (IPB) conducted tests on samples of infant formula milk taken between 2003 and 2006 and found that 20 percent of the samples were contaminated by sakazakii bacteria.
"We will not only focus our search on milk samples contaminated by sakazakii bacteria but also milk containing other bacteria," said the minister.
Endang said she would have a meeting with representatives from BPOM, the Directorate General of Higher Learning Institutions at the National Education Ministry and IPB next Thursday (March 3) to discuss the coordination of the tests.
The minister also said the results of the tests would be compared with those conducted by IPB researchers. However she admitted that the tests might take around six to nine months along with the process of making the proposal, sample gathering and testing.
Endang said she would also conclude an agreement with companies producing and distributing formula milk in Indonesia regarding the government`s plan to announce the brands which had been tainted by sakazakii bacteria.
"I want those companies to realize that their products have been contaminated by dangerous bacteria," she said.
(Uu.A051/HAJM/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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