TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto suspects that the food poisoning cases from the free nutritious meal (MBG) program were caused by students not using spoons when eating the provided snacks. Additionally, he suspects that the children did not wash their hands properly.
"It's not wrong to eat without using a spoon. However, we educate them to wash their hands. So, the cause of the food poisoning could be things like that," Prabowo said during a cabinet meeting at the State Palace, Central Jakarta, on Monday, May 5, 2025.
He shared his experience when observing the implementation of the free meals at a school. In one classroom, 10 out of 30 children did not use a spoon to eat the free nutritious meal. The Head of State suspects that not using a spoon for eating caused the children to be poisoned.
In addition to not using spoons, Prabowo suspects that the poisoning cases occurred because some children were not used to consuming free meal menu items such as milk. However, Prabowo believes that these children will eventually get used to consuming milk.
"The problem is that the child had never drunk milk. We gave him milk, but it takes time to adjust," he said.
Prabowo claims that the number of food poisoning cases from the Free Nutritious Meals program is smaller than the number of beneficiaries. The number of food poisoning cases from the free meals is around 200 out of 3 million beneficiaries.
"Out of 3-point-something million, if I'm not mistaken, it's below 200 people (who got poisoned)," Prabowo said.
With that number, Prabowo stated that the success rate of the free meals reached 99.9 percent. Meanwhile, the poisoning rate is 0.005 percent. This former Minister of Defense also appreciates the target of the Head of the National Nutrition Agency, Dadan Hindayana, who does not want any more deviations in the implementation of the free meals.
However, Prabowo believes that the free meals can run smoothly. 'But I appreciate it because the Head of the BGN and his team said, 'Sir, our goal is zero deviations, zero mistakes.' And we understand that it's not easy in the kitchen where 50 people work, one kitchen where 50 people work,' he said.
The suspected food poisoning cases in the Free Nutritious Meals program have arisen in various regions. At least four regions have reported similar incidents since the beginning of the program in early 2025.
One of them is in Bombana Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, specifically at SDN 33 Kasipute on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. Dozens of students vomited after smelling a fishy aroma from the MBG package containing rice, chicken karaage, fried tofu, and vegetable soup.
The head of the local school, Santi Jamal, mentioned that the unpleasant aroma came from the krispy chicken that was no longer suitable for consumption. The police confirmed that there were 53 out of 1,026 food packages that were not fresh.
On Monday, April 21, 2025, a mass poisoning was also reported in Cianjur Regency, West Java, involving 78 students from MAN 1 and SMP PGRI 1. The incident became part of an Extraordinary Event (KLB) declared by the local government, after a total of 176 residents experienced similar symptoms due to the consumption of food from a resident's celebration.
In East Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, 29 students from SD Katolik Andaluri were taken to health facilities after eating MBG food on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. The students were reported to have experienced poisoning symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.
Dinda Shabrina contributed to this article.
Editor's Choice: BPOM Urges Community Health Centers to Monitor Free Nutritious Meals Program
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