TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsFree meal scheme major cause of food poisoning: govt
Dadan Hindayana, head of the national BGN agency which oversees the program, told lawmakers that more than 11,000 people suffered from food poisoning across Indonesia since the launch, including over 600 who were hospitalized.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Dadan Hindayana, the head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), reacts as ministers, agency representatives, and stakeholders attend a coordination meeting on the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG) at the Coordinating Ministry for Food in Jakarta on March 3, 2025. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
T
he government's hallmark program to provide free meals to combat malnutrition in the country has contributed to nearly half of food poisoning cases this year, an official told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Thousands of people have been sick since the much-hyped billion-dollar scheme of President Prabowo Subianto was launched in January, with critics calling for its suspension over hygiene concerns.
Dadan Hindayana, head of the national BGN agency which oversees the program, told lawmakers that more than 11,000 people suffered from food poisoning across Indonesia since the launch, including over 600 who were hospitalized.
Out of 441 recorded incidents of food poisoning, "the free meal program accounts for 211 incidents, or 48 percent of these cases," he said.
Each incident could involve numerous people affected, sometimes in the thousands.
Last month more than 660 pupils from two schools in central Java experienced diarrhea, nausea and dizziness after they ate meals provided by the government.
Dadan said that half of food poisoning cases related to the free meal program were the result of E. coli contamination.
The government has tightened the supervision of kitchens providing the meals, he added.
Authorities require these kitchens to sterilize food trays and use only filtered water in cooking and washing utensils.
The are currently more than 14,000 kitchens operating across the country under the program, which according to Dadan fed more than 42 million people until November.
Food insecurity is a persistent issue in Indonesia, where stunting spurred by malnutrition affects more than 20 percent of children.
The government had previously announced a target of 82.9 million people -- about one-third of the country's population -- receiving nutritious meals by the end of the year.
The program was funded by widespread budget cuts, which together with anger over deep inequality in the country triggered two waves of nationwide protests earlier this year.
Prabowo has defended the flagship program as a way to tackle child malnutrition, claiming that cases of food poisoning were low compared to the number of meals served.
Last month, he said that, while not perfect, the program was an achievement praised by many countries.
Recipients are mostly children and toddlers, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women.
In 2026, the government plans to expand the program to include elderly Indonesians and people with disabilities.
