Indonesian pork processing companies were asked to use non-pork meat as their raw materials for a while following the recent swine flu fears, the private news portal detik.com quoted a minister as saying on Thursday.

"They could change basic material to beef, lamb or chicken," the Industrial Minister Fahmi Idris said, adding that the move would not affect meat processing industry.

Earlier, the Trade Ministry said that pork derivative product would not be banned temporarily due to its small chance to be the virus carrier. The ministry argued that generally, all processed meat products have gone through cooking process with high enough temperature.

The Coordinating Ministry of People Welfare said that the government has decided to temporary halt pork import to prevent swine flu spread to human.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2009)