The profile of foodborne diseases in Indonesia has been a concern as it has not significantly declined since 2017. The Ministry of Health (MoH) reported that the majority of food poisoning comes from catering services (28%) and food prepared in the household (28%) (Picture 2). The MOH data also reported the increasing number of food businesses across Indonesia, which is an important aspect as the number of food inspectors is limited and they may not be able to assess all food establishments. The conventional food inspection was also not based on risk. It means that all premises are inspected at a similar frequency, regardless of the risk level.
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Fig. 1. The technical guideline, pocketbook and five tutorial videos on risk-based food inspection will be used as a reference to guide food inspectors towards activities based on the risk scores of an establishment.
During the pandemic, conventional inspection practices in districts and municipalities have been and continue to be delayed. The MoH has adopted the PAHO/WHO risk-based food inspection (RBFI) manual to guide food inspectors in planning and prioritising food inspection activities towards more high-risk establishments, serving high-risk food to the community and, most importantly, to the most vulnerable groups. The guideline was supplemented with five tutorial videos and a pocketbook for sanitarians, which MOH developed in December 2021.
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Fig. 2. Proportion foodborne disease outbreaks in 2018 based on food establishment. Source: MoH, 2021
Food inspection is a vital component of a modern food control system. Risk-based food inspection changes the focus from end-product testing or compliance of the premises to the assessment of control to determine the risk of a particular establishment.
The RBFI material covers four key components: the methods to determine the food risk score based on food profile and hazard mitigation and the business risk score based on size and incompliance history.
Based on consultations with food safety experts, MoH has decided that food business with low-risk scores will be inspected once every two years; those with medium risk scores will be inspected annually; and twice a year for food businesses with high-risk scores.
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Fig. 3. Interactive tutorial videos guide the food inspectors to understand the concept and develop food profiles and inspection plans for ready-to-eat food establishments.
In mid-2022, MOH will test the instruments and approaches and train the food inspectors in the seven cities Jakarta, Cirebon, Bekasi, Semarang, Kendari, Denpasar, and Balikpapan. The pocketbook and tutorial videos will be used as part of training materials. More comprehensive socialisation of the materials to the relevant ministries and capacity building to all sanitarians are in the MOH’s pipeline in 2022-2023. To ensure effective implementation of the risk-based food inspection, WHO recommends having synergised national RBFI through multisectoral collaboration with relevant competent authorities.
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Written by Indah Deviyanti, National Professional Officer for Environmental Health and Climate Change, WHO Indonesia