Over 800 Indonesian Students Suffer Mass Food Poisoning Linked to Government Free Meal Program

Over 800 Indonesian Students Suffer Mass Food Poisoning Linked to Government Free Meal Program
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More than 800 students in Indonesia have fallen ill in two separate incidents of mass food poisoning connected to free school meals provided by the government, Arab News reported on Friday.

The largest outbreak occurred in West Java’s Garut region, where 569 students from five schools experienced nausea and vomiting after eating chicken and rice supplied by a government meal kitchen. According to Garut’s regional government secretary, Nurdin Yana, around 30 students were hospitalized initially, with ten still receiving treatment as of Friday, while others have recovered.

In response, local authorities plan to increase monitoring of the implicated kitchen. The meal program will continue, but students will temporarily receive simpler foods such as bread, milk, boiled eggs, and fruit.

Another incident affected 277 students in the Banggai Islands of Central Sulawesi province, leading to a temporary suspension of meal distribution there, the National Nutrition Agency stated.

Since the program’s launch in January under President Prabowo Subianto, over 4,000 children have suffered food poisoning after consuming the free meals, raising concerns about oversight and safety standards. The program currently serves over 20 million recipients, with plans to expand to 83 million by year-end and a budget of 171 trillion rupiah ($10.32 billion). The budget is set to double next year.

Government spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi apologized for the repeated incidents, emphasizing that they were unintentional and not what the government had hoped for.