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Reports of food poisoning continue to haunt free meals program
On Wednesday, 12 students from Takalar Regency, South Sulawesi, were hospitalized after experiencing symptoms of food poisoning from government-provided meals at their schools. This marks the fifth food poisoning case linked to the program since its launch last month.
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Students eat lunches on Sept. 26, 2024, as part of a trial of the free nutritious meals program during their break time at school in Sukabumi, West Java. (REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan)
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eports of food poisoning, undercooked meals and spoiled food continue to mar President Prabowo Subianto's flagship free nutritious meal program, with authorities continuing to downplay the incidents.
On Wednesday, 12 school pupils from Takalar Regency, South Sulawesi, were hospitalized after experiencing symptoms of food poisoning from government-provided meals at their schools. This marks the fifth food poisoning case linked to the program since its launch last month.
Nilal Fauziah, head of the Takalar Health Agency, said the affected pupils were from three different elementary schools in the regency.
"The menu provided to the schools included rice, fish, tofu, vegetables and bananas. We have taken samples from the batch for analysis," she said on Wednesday, as reported by MetroTV.
However, she noted that authorities could not yet confirm that the food poisoning incidents were caused by the packaged meals, as only 12 out of 97 students who ate the meals showed symptoms.
"There are several possibilities. The incident could also have been caused by the drinking water the students brought from home," she added.
A day earlier, the East Java Ombudsman discovered that the fruit and vegetables served to students at SMP 13 Surabaya state junior high school under the free meals program had spoiled and were unfit for consumption.
