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View all search resultsFoodborne illnesses spread as government downplays free meals crisis
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Salwa Nur Azmi, an elementary school student gets treatment in a makeshift clinic whilst she is suffering from food poisoning, after eating free meals provided by the government, in Bandung, West Java, on Sept. 23, 2025.
( AFP/Timur Matahari )
A
s food poisoning cases linked to President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free nutritious meal program continue to spread across the country, public concern is mounting over the government’s insistence on continuing the rollout despite calls for a full pause to allow for investigation and improvements.
Initially launched for around 3 million students in January, the program rapidly expanded to reach 30 million recipients nationwide as of September, with an ultimate goal of serving 82.9 million students and pregnant women “who are hoping to get the free meals soon”, to quote the President’s statement last week, despite official reports of over 6,000 foodborne illness cases linked to the multibillion-dollar project.
While the incidents have fueled calls for a moratorium, the Prabowo administration has dismissed the need for a nationwide halt. Instead, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), which oversees the program, was instructed last week to close only kitchens linked to poisoning cases and continue the rollout under stricter monitoring.
Even under promised tighter supervision involving the Health Ministry and the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), cases continue to rise, with nearly 2,000 new incidents recorded in just a week and hot spots shifting from West Java in late September to East Java in early October.
Education watchdog the Indonesian Education Watch Network (JPPI) reported 1,833 cases last week, with East Java topping the list at 620. West Sumatra and Central Kalimantan recorded 122 and 27 cases, respectively, becoming newly affected provinces.
Read also: Stale and sickly: Parents fear free school meals
The total number of affected recipients since January has reached around 10,400, the JPPI said.
