WAHYU SULISTYOWATI, SOEMARNO, ANTHON EFFANI AND MIMIT PRIMYASTANTO
Abstract
Fishball as popular food is expected to be one of the people's protein sources. Therefore, Indonesian Government has established minimum protein content of 7% in the fishball as Indonesia National Standard (SNI-7266: 2014). This study was intended to know the suitability level of protein content with the Indonesia National Standard one and the possible use of prohibited food additives, such as formaldehyde, borax, and illegal whitening, in fishballs produced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Surabaya, Lamongan, and Pacitan, east Java, Indonesia. Results showed that all fishball samples contained protein required by SNI, 7%, in spite of high deviation reflecting low uniformity of the fishball products from one time to another. The commercial fishballs produced by big companies had also protein content meeting the SNI requirement with nearly similar protein content to that of the SME's products. Nevertheless, there was one trademark of import fishball containing lower protein content. The presence of illegal food additives, such as formaldehyde, borax, and whitening H2O2, was undetected in all fishball samples, so that the fishball was relatively safe to consume.