Last night, chaos erupted at a peaceful residence in Magelang. 167 people were poisoned after consuming Es Buah. The case became widely known after 98 were hospitalised at different hospitals in Magelang. Early information indicates that the es buah was consumed a day earlier at a teacher’s meeting in Kajoran, Magelang, which involved around 300 teachers. After the incubation period of around 8-10 hours, several victims started to feel stomachache, nausea and other concerning reactions.
The Jokes No Longer Jokes for Es Buah From Magelang
For context, es buah is a famous Indonesian dish. No one actually knows the dish’s history. It is even controversial to call this thing as a dish because it is simply a mixture of popular fruits such as watermelon, apple, and pineapple, mixed with water, syrup, and condensed milk. Based on its composition, people might think it comes from a 5-year-old’s fantasy.
This dish also has no official history. People accept that it might come from the idea that Indonesia has a lot of fruit production, and some of it is left unconsumed due to failure to meet the supermarket’s standards in size and quality. Therefore, they came up with the idea of transforming it into a simple dish called ‘es buah’.
The famous dessert is usually found as street food because it is cheap and may not be classy enough for fine dining or major restaurants. This is when the concerning problems start. Since it is street food, there are no regulations to ensure the dessert’s food safety.
Some even joke that this dish doesn’t need food hygiene and safety. They say our digestive system will evolve anyway and adapt to any microbes, pathogens, or poisonous content. After hundreds were poisoned in Magelang, the joke is no longer a joke.
What Wrong Could Happen From Es Buah?
No laws forbid people from selling food on the street. Informal business is central to low-income activities that help people survive. In countries where industrialisation is still hampered by administrative issues and bribes, job opportunities do not match the number of job seekers. As a result, these businesses are left untouched, denying people opportunities to earn a living.
Yet, in other countries, liberalising food safety regulations is dangerous. Food can be contaminated by many things, germs, microbes, or chemicals, that can harm you. To make matters worse, we have not counted the food businesses that use dangerous materials, such as illegal food colourants or preservatives harmful to the human body.
Will Indonesia Regulate Food Production After Es Buah Incident in Magelang?
Food production needs regulation; others believe it is still far from being seriously regulated. Food regulation will significantly increase food prices and affect people’s buying power during an economic crisis.
Another issue is that the government knows it will affect the operational costs of the free meal program (MBG), and it might impose more checks on the program. This will make the situation get more complex.
To add more, the poisoning case didn’t happen once or twice; it happened during MBG’s program when students also got poisoned by the food. The government, rather than addressing it seriously, often belittles what actually happened by stating that the victims are only a small percentage of people who safely consumed MBG. To be clear, it is fair to say that this year, the case of people being poisoned by meals is not a strange case, and the government’s previous reaction was quite passive and defensive. Therefore, there is little expectation that the government will address this case accordingly, even though new victims have appeared while parents hope that something needs to be done for people’s safety, especially their children.
