Jakarta Globe, Markus Junianto Sihaloho | February 16, 2011
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The Commission for Public Information was under strong pressure on Wednesday to order the Ministry of Health to immediately release the names of infant formula brands that were allegedly tainted by bacteria.
David ML Tobing, a father of two children, filed a complaint at the commission’s office in Jakarta.
A statement by the commission, also known as KIP, said David had filed a complaint regarding the ministry’s ongoing refusal to announce the names of the brands, despite an order from the Supreme Court that it do so.
In its verdict issued in April 2010, the Supreme Court ordered the ministry, Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) to name the brands.
KIP member Abdul Rahman Ma’mun said they would intensify communications with the three institutions regarding the matter.
He said that according to the Freedom of Information Law, the names must be released.
The Health Ministry has previously stated that it could not name names because it did not know which brands were affected.
The case goes back to a study published in 2008 by the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), which found five of 22 formula milk samples tested from 2003 to 2006 were contaminated.
In certain amounts, the bacteria is known to cause diarrhea and even meningitis in newborn babies.
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