Radioactive Contamination: How Large is the Clove Plantation in Lampung?

In early August 2025, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) discovered Cesium-137 (Cs-137) contamination in Indonesian cloves exported to the United States (US).

Cs-137 is a radioactive element that can pose health risks to humans, such as burns, acute radiation sickness, increased cancer risk, and even death if exposed in large quantities.

"The FDA detected the presence of Cs-137 in one sample of cloves from PT Natural Java Spice," the FDA stated in an announcement on its website.

"As such, spice products shipped by the firm PT Natural Java Spice to the U.S. have also been added to the import alert for chemical contamination," they said.

This radioactive contamination in cloves was also confirmed by the Indonesian government, through the Cs-137 Radionuclide Radiation Handling Task Force.

Bara Krishna Hasibuan, Head of Diplomacy and Communication for the Cs-137 Radionuclide Radiation Handling Task Force, stated that the company mentioned by the FDA is located in Surabaya. However, the contaminated cloves originated from Lampung.

"So, the processing location is indeed in Surabaya, and they purchased it from two sources: one plantation in Pati, Central Java, and another in Lampung," Bara said during a press conference on Monday (October 13, 2025).

"We can confirm that contamination was found in a plantation in Lampung. The contamination was found in limited quantities and has not spread to other areas or commodities," Bara said.

"The team is still investigating the source of the Cs-137 contamination in Lampung. The government is moving quickly to localize this contamination to prevent it from spreading to other areas," he added.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), in 2024, the area of clove plantations in Lampung reached 8,214 hectares.

All of these plantations are smallholder plantations; none are managed by large private or state-owned companies.