InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – 50 percent crude palm oil (CPO) is applied for food, namely palm cooking oil and the rests are fro non-food. For it is also used for food, palm oil mills that produce CPO should be changed to be food factories with close standards. There are many dirty palm oil mills, such as, rats, cockroaches found in the mills, smoking in the mills, and others. In addition, refinery which is clearly producing palm cooking oil, the standards are not as close as bread factory, for instance.
“There should be palm oil mills as standard as food factory. Palm oil mills that belong to big companies have system that realize it while the small companies still face issue to minimize (production) costs. “It needs to regulate how to press palm oil mill to be food factory, for instance, the manager (of a factory/mill) should have food factory certification,” Vice Chairman of Perkumpulan Praktisi Profesional Perkebunan Indonesia (P3PI), Edward Silalahi said in a discussion ‘Updating Technology Palm Oil Mill Indonesia’ that P3PI conducted.
In one mill, there would be 130 machines (engines) to operate fresh fruit bunch (FFB) to be CPO. The machine needs grease and oli. In the process, the grease would be mixed when processing CPO. To be food factory, the grease and oli should be food grade with higher price.
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)
