Mass Food Poisoning Affects Over 1,000 Students in Indonesia’s Free School Meals Program: Contamination Causes Sickness in Multiple Regions

In Sragen, Central Java, over 360 individuals reported illnesses following the consumption of school lunches, according to an official statement on Thursday. This incident marks the largest food poisoning case linked to President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free meals program since its inception in January.

Since its launch, the program has faced numerous mass food poisoning incidents across the archipelago, impacting over 1,000 individuals. The latest outbreak occurred at Gemolong 1 middle school, where a ninth grader named Wizdan Ridho Abimanyu reported experiencing abdominal pain and symptoms of headache and diarrhea. He attributes these symptoms to food poisoning, having observed similar complaints on social media posts from his schoolmates.

The suspected contaminated meal consisted of turmeric rice, omelette ribbons, fried tempeh, cucumber and lettuce salad, sliced apple, and a box of milk, all prepared in a central kitchen and distributed to various schools. The local government has requested that food distribution from this particular kitchen be temporarily halted until lab results are available.

Following previous food poisoning incidents, the National Nutrition Agency, which oversees the program, has implemented stricter standards for kitchen operations and delivery. The agency’s head, Dadan Hindayana, confirmed these enhancements to Reuters.

The free meals program has rapidly expanded its reach to over 15 million recipients so far. Authorities aim to extend this to approximately 83 million individuals by the end of the year, with a projected budget of 171 trillion rupiah ($10.62 billion) allocated for this initiative in 2023.

In a separate incident in West Java earlier this year, over 200 students were affected by food poisoning after consumption of contaminated meals containing Salmonella and E. coli bacteria, as reported by the media.