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Indonesia kaya dengan ragam pangan tradisional yang mampu diangkat menjadi produk nasional dan bisa bersaing dengan produk impor. Sayangnya masih sedikit masyarakat yang memanfaatkan peluang ini.

Satu diantara penyebab hal tersebut adalah kemasan produk pangan tradisional masih kalah bersaing dengan kemasan produk pangan luar negeri, padahal secara kualitas produk lokal mungkin lebih baik dibandingkan produk luar negeri.

Maklum lah kalau dilihat dari media komunikasi, fungsi suatu kemasan produk tidak sekadar sebagai pelindung atau wadah, akan tetapi juga dapat menarik minat pembeli. Karenanya, harus dipikirkan desain kemasan yang menonjol sehingga daya tariknya lebih besar.

Banyak makanan dan minuman yang dimiliki oleh masyarakat Indonesia kalau dilihat dari nilai gizi terhitung baik. Lihat saja minuman seperti beras kencur, temulawak, kunyit-asam, serbat, dadih (fermentasi susu khas Sumatera Barat), dali (fermentasi susu kerbau khas Sumatera Utara), sekoteng atau bandrek.

Belum lagi makanannya seperti keripik balado Padang, kacang oven Bogor, keripik emping melinjo Pandeglang, bawang Palu, dan abon ikan tuna Marlin. Para ahli gizi pun akan sependapat bahwa pangan tersebut memiliki manfaat bagi kesehatan manusia.

Bagi sebagian masyarakat Indonesia pun produk tersebut sejak puluhan bahkan ratusan tahun lalu sudah menjadi bagian kehidupan mereka. Memang ada sebagian pebisnis yang melihat pangan tradisonal milik Indonesia dan dijadikan usaha baru mereka.

Kini masyarakat tidak hanya membeli barang, tetapi juga membayar nilai estetika kemasan. Bahkan sebagian masyarakat tidak segan membeli produk serupa dengan harga berlipat asal kemasannya menarik.

Memang di pasar, produk pangan tradisional ini masih cukup bersinar. Sebab masyarakat awam terkadang tidak begitu memperhatikan soal kemasan, yang penting “banyak asal murah” atau sebaliknya. Untuk hal ini pelaku usaha pangan tradisional boleh membusungkan dada, tapi pasar modern seperti supermarket jelas menolak produk tersebut.

Sebenarnya beberapa pelaku usaha produk pangan tersebut telah berusaha menerobos pasar modern. Tapi standar yang ditetapkan seringkali menjadi penghambat. Di antaranya label, bar code, nama perusahaan, informasi gizi, dan sebagainya. Padahal, potensi pasar cukup luas dan menjanjikan.

Tapi ada juga kabar bahagia, yaitu ada minuman jamu yang dijual dipasaran dalam bentuk serbuk. Beberapa tahun belakangan ini produk yang berbentuk serbuk pun dipakai untuk penjualan temulawak, jahe, hingga bandrek.

Langkah tersebut patut diberi apresiasi, namun keinginan masyarakat yang terus berubah patut diperhitungkan juga dalam mengembangkan produk tersebut agar terus digandrungi oleh masyarakat. Lihat saja disekitar kita, banyak bermunculan minuman yang tinggal ditusuk dengan sedotan dan tinggal diminum atau istilah populernya adalah ready to drink.

Sebenarnya pengemasan ini sudah digunakan untuk beberapa jenis minuman tradisional kita seperti minuman teh, minuman kacang hijau dan buah-buahan lain. Belakangan pun salah satu perusahaan jamu terbesar di Indonesia mengeluarkan beragam jenis minuman seperti minuman tradisional gula asam, beras kencur, serbat.

Minuman instan yang siap minum tersebut disajikan di dalam kemasan Tetra Pak yang higienis dan praktis. Lewat kemasan ini masyarakat bisa menikmati minuman tradisional milik Indonesia seperti layaknya meminum minuman modern yang notabenenya berasal dari negara lain.

Ada banyak keunggulan jika minuman tradisional kita disajikan ready to drink dengan menggunakan kemasan modern seperti tidak memerlukan bahan pengawet, shelf-life yang panjang, serta praktis dan aman untuk dikonsumsi. Memang perlu dana tambahan jika mau menggunakan kemasan yang berasal dari karton aspetik tersebut. Dan akibatnya memang akan berdampak dengan harga jual produk kita nantinya.

Tapi yakin lah dengan biaya tersebut akan tertutupi/diimbangi dengan menariknya penampilan produk yang dijual yang dapat mempertahankan nilai gizinya tanpa diperlukan bahan pengawet sehingga akan semakin banyak masyarakat Indonesia yang membelinya. Dan akhirnya minuman tradisional pun mampu bersaing dengan produk impor di pasar dalam maupun luar negeri.

The new European legislation on health claims has been in force since July 2007. One of the key objectives of the regulation on nutrition and health claims is to “ensure that consumers will be able to rely on the truth and accuracy of information” by making sure that such claims are based on reliable scientific evidence. Thus, the goal is to protect consumers both from misleading information and claims. Another goal has been to focus on central assessment of health claims in Europe.

Interest in the health claims has been high among the industry already for a decade. This has led to the process coordinated by the ILSI Europe with funding from the European Union and collaboration between the industry, regulators and researchers focusing on functional food science in Europe. Along this process, the specific topics and areas of research excellence have been identified. Later, methodologies to ascertain health claims have been clarified through this collaboration resulting in reports and proposals published in the scientific literature.

When the new legislation was finalized, the task of scientific evaluation has been given to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) regarding both the scientific assessment of existing claims on foods submitted by all European Union member states and product-specific health claim applications submitted since late 2007 to EFSA. Both tasks are important and specific time lines are enforced. The applications for product specific claims should be handled within 5 months of the submission provided the application can be validated first by EFSA. Assessment of the existing health claims submitted by member states should be concluded by EFSA and submitted to the European Commission. The specific tasks for EFSA include supporting EU decision-makers in implementing the new Regulation by providing scientific advice on:

Setting up nutrient profiles by 2009 – the basic nutritional criteria that will govern the conditions in which claims may be made

Establishing an EU-wide list of permitted health claims by 2010

Assessing on a case-by-case basis whether individual claims are scientifically reliable and justified Providing guidance for applications on the preparation of applications for the authorisation of claims

The evaluation process involves different types of claims as defined in specific articles of the Legislation. These are the following:

Article 13 health claims concern health claims based on generally accepted scientific evidence, the Commission has sent a draft final list to Member States of about 1700 claims. Member States may raise any concerns on any claims not on this list and thereafter EFSA will assess the science base behind the claims.

Article 14 claims relate to children’s health and specific disease risk reduction claims which need to be demonstrated in studies in target populations. Among the first product specific children’s health associated claims was a food supplement made with probiotics and fermented vegetables and fruit and several other are currently evaluated.

Article 18 claims relate to products which are based on new science and proprietary data. These include new application on food and health that may contain new unpublished information.

Over two hundred claim applications have been submitted and are being processed and the abstracts and later also decision will be made public. Advise for applications and checklists are available at the EFSA net-page. Later on, information on the assessment of the existing claims in all member states will become available.

The scientific evaluation is conducted by the NDA Panel (Panel on Nutrition, Dietetic products, and Allergies (NDA)) of the EFSA. This panel currently consists of 17 experts, but there are plans to expand the panel. Additional expertise may also be recruited from outside the panel to assist in preparing health claim assessments for specific areas. Among the first opinions is the scientific opinion on nutrient profiles and how they should be considered in relation to health claims. This part facilitates the target that foods are assessed also for the nutritional quality prior to granting health claims.

The first decisions on health claims include both approvals of applied claims and claims which have not been considered scientifically well documented. The decision can be viewed for example on the EFSA webpage. It is clear, for instance, that health claims for children including diseases risk reduction require more proof, especially clinical intervention trials in the target populations which may include infants after weaning and children of different ages.

This part is also clearly defined in the legislation. It is also clear that the applications have to be prepared in a clear manner and according to the guidelines prepared by the EFSA. This will clearly assist in the assessment and also make it clear for the company preparing the application what is required and how to present and summarize the information.

As we progress, more practical examples become available and also the application summaries can be viewed within the EFSA web-pages. It is likely to be of help to the applicant to check the abstracts and the panel opinions which are public. This will enable the applicant to check the requirements and reasons for either approving or not approving the claims.

Another matter of great interest is the ongoing assessment of health claims that have already been in use in different European Union member states. These have been submitted to the European Commission for assessment by each members state and the procedure is ongoing with expected decisions in 2009. Several thousands of claims were submitted and currently the European Food Safety Authority is assessing the scientific basis of the claims.

The current assessment procedure is especially important for both the consumers and the industry. The target is to provide new and reliable EU-wide claims to consumers to help the consumer in food selection and in understanding the potential scientifically proved health benefits. On the other hand, the target is to allow the companies which have conducted new and scientifically sound research to also state the benefit of the products in their food labels. These targets are designed for the benefit of all of us, and they are likely to lead the food industry to further emphasize health aspects and nutritional benefits in product development thus benefiting all of us.

The interest of the food industry has been significantly high and both small, medium-size and large food companies have focused on this area. The interest is also mirrored in the number of applications submitted in Europe since the legislation was enforced – the number of applications has increased continuously and there was keen interest in the gathering of national lists of existing health claims from member states and providing scientific backing for them.

Thus, the industry is now more prone to guide product development towards increased knowledge of health effects of both food ingredients and products. This focus is within the interest both regulatory authorities, food and nutrition scientists, health professionals and the scientific community as well as the end users. The consideration of health claims also emphasizes the health benefits of foods but it also emphasizes the flavour of healthy or functional foods. It has been experienced and in addition to health claims, the individual foods have to taste good and they have to be desirable to the consumer.

Bioteknologi telah digunakan dalam proses pangan sejak ribuan tahun yang lalu. Roti, kecap, keju, yoghurt, dan vinegar merupakan contoh produk yang dikembangkan melalui bioteknologi dan cukup populer hingga saat ini. Penggunaan bioteknologi hingga saat ini terus dikembangkan, terutama untuk menghasilkan produk dengan kualitas yang lebih baik.




Menurut data tahun 2007 yang dikumpulkan oleh International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Bioteknologi Applications (ISAAA), Amerika Serikat saat ini merupakan pemimpin dalam penanaman secara global tanaman yang diproduksi melalui bioteknologi. AS menanam 57,7 juta hektar varietas bioteknologi mulai dari kacang kedelai, jagung, kapas, kanola, labu, pepaya, dan alfalfa di tahun 2007. Selain itu, jumlah negara yang menanam tanaman yang diproduksi melalui bioteknologi meningkat menjadi 23 negara pada 2007 (ISAAA Briefs 37-2007). Bioteknologi digunakan untuk menghasilan produk pangan dengan berbagai macam tujuan, misalnya supaya lebih segar, rasa lebih enak, atau lebih awet. Berikut ini adalah sedikit contoh pangan yang dimodifikasi melalui proses bioteknologi.

Tomat dengan sifat pematangan yang tertunda mempunyai rasa yang lebih baik, segar lebih lama, dan terjaga kualitasnya selama distribusi. Kedelai, kanola, jagung, kapas, dan tanaman kentang yang terlindungi dari serangga, atau toleran herbisida atau keduanya

Squash (semacam labu) yang sudah dibuat lebih tahan terhadap virus yang sering menyerang sayuran yang merambat.

Bioteknologi bukan hanya sekedar Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). Sebenarnya, saat ini banyak sekali produk bioteknologi yang populer di masyarakat, misalnya. Kecap, roti, tempe, yoghurt, keju, terasi, petis, tape, dan vetsin (MSG) adalah sedikit contoh produk bioteknologi yang sangat populer di masyarakat Indonesia. Bahkan, sebagian produk-produk tersebut telah ada sejak jaman dahulu, di wariskan secara turun-temurun oleh nenek moyang kita.

Masa depan bioteknologi pangan

Penelitian di bidang bioteknologi pangan saat ini sedang berusaha menemukan cara yang lebih cepat untuk mengetahui kontaminasi mikroba ke dalam pangan. Hal ini dapat menurunkan risiko foodborne disease. Para Ilmuwan juga sudah mulai meneliti keberadaan protein penyebab alergi dalam pangan, sehingga masyarakat yang alergi terhadap pangan tertentu, satu hari dapat mengkonsumsi pangan tersebut secara aman.

Penerapan bioteknologi juga dapat memberikan lebih banyak ketersediaan produk sehat bagi manusia, misalnya dalam menghasilkan pangan kaya antioksidan dan vitamin serta rendah lemak.

Produk-produk yang telah memasyarakat sejak awal, seperti yoghurt dan tempe, telah dikenal manfaatnya bagi kesehatan. Kedepannya bioteknologi pangan akan terus berkembang untuk memenuhi kebutuhan pangan manusia, baik dari segi kualitas maupun kuantitas.

Sebelum diperkenalkan di pasaran, produk-produk bioteknologi telah melalui proses uji yang cukup panjang. Isu-isu negatif tentang bioteknologi perlu disikapi secara cermat. Karena tidak semua isu tersebut dapat dibuktikan secara ilmiah.