PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – Half of the crude palm oil (CPO) produced is utilized for food purposes, mainly as palm cooking oil, while the remaining portion is earmarked for non-food applications. However, numerous palm oil mills fail to meet the stringent standards required for food production.
Issues such as infestations of rats and cockroaches, smoking within the premises, and inadequate hygiene practices are commonly observed. Additionally, the standards for refining CPO into palm cooking oil often fall short of those expected in facilities producing other food items, such as bread factories.
Edward Silalahi, Vice Chairman of the Indonesian Professional Practitioners Association of Plantation (P3PI), emphasizes the need for palm oil mills to match the standards set for food factories. While larger companies may already comply with these standards, smaller enterprises face challenges in doing so due to concerns about production costs.
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Silalahi suggests implementing regulations to mandate food factory certification for palm oil mills, thereby ensuring improved cleanliness and hygiene standards.
Typically, a palm oil mill operates approximately 130 machines to process fresh fruit bunches (FFB) into CPO, requiring the use of grease and oil. However, to meet food factory standards, these lubricants must be of food-grade quality, despite their higher cost.
For it needs more expensive costs though it would be not too expensive, there should be regulation so that the stakeholders would do it. If not, there would be many mills would not do it to press the (production) costs.
“We targeted that in 2045, this country would be advance one. Palm oil industries as number one revenue contributor should get better class. The mills should be food factory. Every FFB process in the plantations to the mills should be hygiene. The issue about 3 MPCDE and GE should start from here and the mill if we do now want that our palm oil is accused by the cause of cancer. It is time for the mills to go one step ahead,” Silalahi said.
By having the regulation, the stakeholders would be pressed to realize that it is important to have mills as food factory. Financial maker(s) in the company should have a principle that if they do not need (to realize it), there is no cash out. But if they need it, how much would it take, anything would be done. For example, sustainability would spend much but because it is mandatory, they would spend it. Palm oil mill as food factory, if it is a mandatory, willing or not, they would realize it though it would spend extra.
Executive Director of GIMNI (Gabungan Industri Minyak Nabati Indonesia), Sahat Sinaga did agree that palm oil mill shuld be food factory. There should be regulation but should not be too close. If the standards are too close, everything would be difficult. Not too close regulation would show to the world that Indonesia has done something.
Ministry of Industry should regulate it. About 1.220 mills in 27 provinces operate in Indonesia and they should be food factories. In a restaurant, for instance, if there is a cockroach, it has to stop operating. And in mill, if there is pollution, it has too. This might make palm oil industries dirty and should be changed.
Aziz Hidayat, Chairman of Plantation, Indonesian Palm Oil Association thought, there should be standards for mills, both in health, cleanliness, and work health. Start from October 2024, CPO should get halal certificate. If this is really happening, it can be tracked if CPO was polluted by other substance – not only in health issue or the halal. In fact, palm cooking oil has Indonesian National Standards. (T2)