Few years back, there was a heavy competition between ionised water (such as Pocari, Gatorade, Powerade, Mizone, Vitazone, etc) producers in Indonesia. One producer announce that their competitor's product contain a preservative hence it is not good for health.
It is said that the competition was so fierce that one of the sales force team literally told consumers not to buy their competitor's product because it contain preservatives. Off course, we as consumers have the right to know the truth and this kind of information will help us to decide which product to buy in the market.
The accused producer was not happy at all and rumor said that they fight back and argued that the claim "no preservatives" (tanpa pengawet) put on pack is ofter misleading. They explain that things like sugar and salt are actually food preservatives as well.
The most absurd thing was that now BPOM (Indonesian FDA) state that no producer can claim "No Preservative" or "Tanpa Pengawet" on any processed food (and beverage) products.
It is said that the competition was so fierce that one of the sales force team literally told consumers not to buy their competitor's product because it contain preservatives. Off course, we as consumers have the right to know the truth and this kind of information will help us to decide which product to buy in the market.
The accused producer was not happy at all and rumor said that they fight back and argued that the claim "no preservatives" (tanpa pengawet) put on pack is ofter misleading. They explain that things like sugar and salt are actually food preservatives as well.
The most absurd thing was that now BPOM (Indonesian FDA) state that no producer can claim "No Preservative" or "Tanpa Pengawet" on any processed food (and beverage) products.
Actually there are several ways to preserve food and beverage :
a. Processing : pasteurisation, freezing, dehydration
b. Adding natural preservative : sugar and salt
c. Adding chemical preservative : Benzoats, Sorbates, Nitrites, Sulphites
a. Processing : pasteurisation, freezing, dehydration
b. Adding natural preservative : sugar and salt
c. Adding chemical preservative : Benzoats, Sorbates, Nitrites, Sulphites
d. Packing : vacuum, hypobaric
I think the wise thing is to regulate the claim on preservative rather that to blindly forbid them, just like killing a mosquito with a nuke bomb. I think the good producer should be allowed to use the word "no chemical preservative" if they really don't use them. Otherwise it will punish the good producer.
Even though some chemical preservatives within limit are allowed by FDA and globally approved, proper claim on pack will help us to choose the right product for us. So next time read the ingredients list carefully!
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