Hatched Eggs Can Be Hazardous to Health

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Some poultry farmers in regional areas have raised concern over the decline of egg prices to around 50 percent in previous weeks that caused by the distribution of hatched eggs.

Although the distribution is prohibited following the issuance of a decree by the Agriculture Minister in 2017 hatched eggs are still found in some traditional markets.

The practice has not only hit the poultry farmers, but it has also impacted the consumers in general as hatched eggs can be hazardous to people’s health.

Just a day ago the police have ceased 400 kilograms of hatched eggs from a seller in a Tasikmalaya’s wholesale market in West Java. The egg seller was then questioned by the police for further investigation.

“It’s true that we have seized four quintals of hatched eggs that are not allowed to be sold and consumed as they are very hazardous. It is suspected that the cheap price eggs come from breeding farms,” said Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit at Tasikmalaya Police Precinct Adjunct Commissioner Police Yusuf Ruhiman on Thursday (11/6).

Also read: RS Siloam Offers Affordable Coronavirus Testing for Indonesians

Yusuf said that based on the information provided by the egg seller, the hatched eggs were brought from Lampung in Sumatera Province. Currently, the hatched eggs are kept by the relevant agency so that the eggs cannot be sold. He called on the public to be more careful in buying eggs in the market and not be tempted by the cheap offer.

Two days before, the Tasikmalaya’s Task Force Team had also found another seller who sold hatched eggs for 15,000 rupiahs ($1.05) per kilogram, while the price of the consumption eggs at the same market reached about 24,000 rupiahs.

A similar violation also took place in Purwokerto’s traditional market in Central Java last month. A task force team found a seller who offered hatched eggs for 18,000 rupiahs per kilogram. The seller bought the hatched eggs for 16,000 rupiahs per kilogram from a seller in Garut, West Java.

Also read: Indonesia Coronavirus Cases Break Three Records in One Week

The distribution of hatched eggs has hit the price of eggs for consumption said a poultry farmer in Blitar, East Java Rofiyasifun, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

He said that the hatched eggs produced by the breeding farms are distributed to the traditional markets. “This makes the egg prices drop,” said Rofiyasifun recently.

He found that the hatched eggs were offered for 7,000 rupiahs per kilogram. “It’s a dilemma, we cannot report the breeding farms as it is done by an individual at the company. This repeats every year, but we cannot do anything to the company,” he said.

Violations are monitored

Director-General of Livestock and Animal Health at the Agriculture Ministry I Ketut Diarmita said that the ministry will strictly take necessary actions against any company that is not abiding by rules.