Page 58 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

producers, however, simply cannot afford to pay the DepKes registration fees

but still make excellent jamu. In this instance a specialist jamu shop should be
able to offer advice.
The government now insists every jamu and herbal medicine company
employs a qualified pharmacist (or assistant pharmacist) to ensure professional
quality control. It has laid down that the word jamu and not obat (which means
any type of medicine, either natural, as in jamu, or chemical) must be printed on
packages of anything that has not been scientifically and clinically tested. In
addition, manufacturers are not allowed to advertise that a certain illness can be
cured by a specific manufactured jamu. An example of this policy concerns a
Slimming Tea. Not only have customers successfully lost weight using this jamu,
but it has been scientifically proven that it reduces cholesterol levels too.

However, government regulations prevent manufacturers from publicizing this
because the product is categorized as jamu, not obat.
DepKes regulations stipulate pharmaceutical and medical terminology
cannot be used to describe the use and effectiveness of jamu. Any claims on
behalf of the product must be in simple, everyday language. Generally, an
interval of at least one hour, if not four hours, should separate the consumption
of more than one type of jamu.

A Question of Authenticity
As a general rule, it is better to stick with reputable brand names unless the
person making up the medicine has been recommended as entirely trustworthy.
There are extremely good healers who do not have the advantage of scientific

staff and machinery, but one needs to be sure they really are experts. There are
stories of manufacturers who have added a hefty dose of steroids to the
concoction. The result may be effective in the short term but it certainly is not
safe. A guarded approach is essential, because it is easy to pick someone who is
a charlatan.