Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing. Susan-Jane Beers

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.

      Another area for concern is the proliferation of one type of night warung, small stalls that usually stay open all night in Indonesia. Illegal jamu is big business. The sellers are well known to locals in Bali or Yogyakarta and are occasionally found in Jakarta. As their products are illegal, these traders are expert at uprooting themselves and disappearing at the first sign of police. If undisturbed, they make an extremely good living and the benefits outweigh the risks. However, they sell an exceedingly strong jamu that can be highly dangerous. It is similar to a fermented wine or beer and is famous, according to Indonesians, for ‘making men strong’. It is one of the few jamu with side effects. If you notice a group of men reeling and singing around a night stall, chances are they have been working on their virility because the fermented drink makes customers exceedingly drunk. Foreigners do not have to worry about stumbling across these sellers because they would never let a Westerner buy their jamu. They are equally reluctant to sell to an Indonesian woman who arrives on her own, but will serve her if she is with her husband.

      There are also more or less legitimate sellers who think they can improve on original recipes. One such vendor in Menteng Dalam, North Jakarta has a reputation for selling exceedingly good jamu made using an electric blender; he attracts huge queues of regular customers in the morning rush hour. What is so unique about this jamu? The seller adds a Bodrex tablet (a trade name for paracetamol) to the blender with every glass of jamu even though it is illegal to mix jamu with chemical drugs. On its own, this is not such a bad thing as many Western doctors recommend a small dosage of paracetamol each day. The real problem is that good jamu is so carefully concocted that if it is tampered with, toxic chemical reactions are liable to occur.

      Pharmacists on the staff of Indonesia’s major cosmetic and herbal medicine manufacturers warn against jamu that is not stored properly. When jamu becomes damp, perfect conditions exist for poisonous fungi to develop in the bottle or packet. For this reason, manufacturers seal their packets and bottles thoroughly and instruct retailers not to exceed the sell-by dates.

      Currently there is no systematic approach to traditional medicine in Indonesia, which is why manufacturer Martina Berto has set up scientific procedures to standardize jamu at every stage of research and production. Before launching a new product, the research and development staff test the jamu by taking the recommended dose themselves. It will only be launched if no negative physiological effects result. In addition, they carry out efficacy as well as toxicity studies (including acute and sub-acute toxicity studies) and the product is carefully monitored once it enters the marketplace. They are not alone in moving towards more stringent regulations: major competitors such as Nyonya Meneer have also instigated quality controls that inspire confidence. There are charlatans in any country and the Indonesian Jamu Association constantly warns the public against using illegally manufactured products and advises buying exclusively from the 500 brands on its own register.

      A CHANGE OF CAREER AND CHANGE IN FORTUNES

      An educated woman, Ibu Sri is forty-two years old and has sold jamu for the past five years. She started life as an elementary school teacher but couldn’t manage on such a small salary. After various unsatisfactory jobs, Ibu Sri worked her way through books on jamu making and experimented for over a year until she was satisfied with the results. Because these were cures for serious illness as opposed to recipes to keep the body healthy, she verified the complicated formulæ with her cousin, a doctor, to be sure the mixtures were safe.