TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of Indonesian Food and Drug Authority (BPOM), Taruna Ikrar, said that the agency will ease the permit process for industries that implement the nutri-level labeling system for packaged drinks. This permit is granted in conjunction with the April 14, 2026, launch of regulations implementing sugar, salt, and fat labeling for packaged drinks.
Moreover, Taruna stated that the Indonesian government will offer incentives to industries willing to implement this system. The incentives will be given during the trial period to encourage industries to comply with this new policy.
"So, there are several conveniences, including the application submitted to us. We provide certain incentives. Because currently, it's an educational phase," said Taruna during the Launch of Nutrition Labels at the Human Resources Building for Health, Jakarta, on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.
Taruna explained that nutri-level is a classification system for food and drinks based on sugar, salt, and fat content. This labeling system is implemented to educate the public about the sugar, salt, and fat content in a processed product. The hope is that people can control their sugar consumption independently to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and others.
He explained that the government uses letters and colors to indicate the amount of sugar in packaged drinks. These include level A (dark green) for very healthy drinks with less than 1 gram of sugar, meaning they have no added sweeteners.
Then, level B (light green) for the healthy category with 1-5 grams of sugar, level C (yellow) for the less healthy category with 5-10 grams of sugar, and level D (red) for the unhealthy category with more than 10 grams of sugar.
Taruna said that currently, the inclusion of sugar content information on packaged drinks is not mandatory because it's still in the trial phase. The policy will be mandatory as soon as the official BPOM regulation is issued. The Ministry of Law is currently harmonizing this regulation.
In the future, Taruna stated that once the regulation is officially issued, the government will impose consequences or sanctions on industries that do not adopt the nutri-level rules for their products. "Later, when we make it mandatory, there will be sanctions. Currently, sanctions cannot be imposed because it's still voluntary," he said.
Read: Indonesia to Enforce High-Sugar Labels on Food and Beverage Packaging
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