Cayenne pepper painted red in 3 markets in Banyumas, similar to wood paint, insoluble

PURWOKERTO, KOMPAS.com – Food and Drug Administration (POM) officials found cayenne pepper that was allegedly painted red in various traditional markets in Banyumas Regency, Central Java.

POM Banyumas bureau chief Suliyanto revealed that chili peppers with dyes were found in the Wage Purwokerto market, the Cermai Baturraden market and the Kemukusan Sumbang market, on Tuesday (12/29/2020).

“There have been sales of chili peppers that are suspected of not being food colorings in various markets,” Suliyanto said during a press conference at Pendapa Sipanji Purwokerto, Banyumas Regency, on Wednesday (12/30/2020).

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Suliyanto said agents found chili peppers with the dye at five vendor stalls spread across three markets.

“If you look at it physically, it looks like paint, because if you use food coloring it will be very difficult to stick. This is definitely not food coloring,” Suliyanto explained.

This suspicion, Suliyanto said, was also strengthened because the dye could not be dissolved in water and alcohol.

“So that the appearance is like wood paint. We cannot know the chemical content yet, we will coordinate with the police to carry out laboratory tests,” Suliyanto said.

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Meanwhile, UPTD Pasar Daerah 1 Purwokerto chief Arif Budiman said that after the discovery, suppliers had removed the remaining chili peppers in the hands of traders.

“For Pasar Wage today, after the employer was informed, there were painted chili peppers and they were all taken out by the supplier. Today I verified that it was clean,” Arif said.