One of the routine agendas of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Airlangga (FF UNAIR) which aims to educate the public is coming back in 2023. The agenda referred to is none other than the UNAIR FF Webinar Series. Still the same as the previous year, this year webinars were also held via the Zoom Meeting and Youtube platforms so that education could be delivered with a wider reach.
The webinar, which this time carries the theme "The Role of Pharmacists in Quality Assurance and Food Safety" was held on March 4, 2023 with more than 1,200 registrants. Interestingly, the theme of the webinar this time made various groups ranging from professionals, academics, students, to the general public attend this event.
This webinar thoroughly examines food quality and safety as well as discusses an issue that is currently booming, namely "Chiki Ngebul" or commonly abbreviated as Chibul. Chibul itself is a chiki snack that is given liquid nitrogen so that it emits smoke. This trending snack in Korea is also much loved in Indonesia, especially children. But apparently, these snacks can be harmful to health and there have been several cases reported.
Moderated by a Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacy FF UNAIR, Prof. Juni Ekowati, this activity presented 3 extraordinary speakers. The first resource person, Mrs. apt. Anisyah, S.Si., MP. as the Director of Processed Food Standardization BPOM explained related to how food quality and safety is regulated by BPOM. Regarding Chibul, he explained that liquid nitrogen can be used as a helper for ice cream manufacturers because it can cool quickly, but this ingredient should not be in the final product. The regulations regarding the use of liquid nitrogen in food have been made by BPOM, there are even risk mitigations related to what consumers and sellers must do.
UNAIR FF Professor, Prof. M. Yuwono who acted as the 2nd resource person explained topics related to chemical contaminants in food and how to detect them. Chemical contaminants in food can be in the form of natural toxins, environmental pollution, agrochemical residues, food process toxins, additives that are accidentally added, and food production chains that pose intrinsic and extrinsic risks. The way to detect it is by the method of analysis by also looking at the qualifications of the instruments, personnel and others.
The last resource person, Dr. Marcellino Rudyanto, a lecturer at FF UNAIR, explained about the use of liquid nitrogen in ready-to-eat food. He revealed that basically nitrogen has no nutritional value for the human body. Liquid nitrogen is dangerous if it enters the body because the volume of liquid nitrogen when it becomes gas will increase 700 times. This can lead to tissue necrosis and gastric leakage so that it is not suitable for use in serving food. According to him, food that is given liquid nitrogen will be safe to eat when it no longer emits smoke.
