Over 1,000 Indonesians sick from school meal program

More than 1,000 children in Indonesia’s West Java have suffered food poisoning this week from school lunches, authorities said yesterday, the latest in a series of outbreaks and another setback for the president’s multibillion-dollar free meals program.

The mass poisoning was reported in four areas of West Java Province, its governor, Dedi Mulyadi, said.

The report came as non-governmental organizations issued calls to suspend the program due to health concerns.

The latest cases follow the poisoning of 800 students who ate school lunches last week in West Java and Central Sulawesi provinces, supplied under Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s signature free nutritious meals program.

Questions have been raised about standards and oversight of the scheme, which has expanded rapidly to reach more than 20 million recipients, with an ambitious goal of feeding 83 million by the end of the year.

The program’s 171 trillion rupiah (US$10.21 billion) budget is to double next year.

Mulyadi said that more than 470 students fell sick in West Bandung on Monday after eating the free lunches, and three more outbreaks took place there on Wednesday and in the Sukabumi region, affecting at least 580 children.

“We must evaluate those running the program ... and the most important thing is how to deal with the students’ trauma after eating the food,” he said, adding small hospitals in West Bandung were overwhelmed by sick students.

Prabowo’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest cases.

Dadan Hindayana, head of Indonesia’s National Nutrition Agency that oversees the free meals program, said kitchens with poisoning cases had been suspended.

Lisa Bila Zahara, 15, said she fell ill on Wednesday after eating a school lunch of chicken and tofu cooked with soy sauce.

“Around 30 minutes later, I felt nauseous and had a headache,” the high-school student said at a sports hall turned into a makeshift treatment center in West Bandung.

“I want it stopped [the program]... I fear this will happen again,” she said.

Zahara’s mother forbade her from eating the free meals.

Before this week’s incident, at least 6,452 children nationwide had suffered food poisoning from the program since it was launched in January, the think tank Network for Education Watch said.

Mulyadi said kitchens were tasked with feeding too many students and were located far from the schools, forcing them to start cooking early, sometimes the night before the lunch.

“When the food was still warm, it was immediately put on the tray and the tray was closed, making it spoiled,” he said, adding that authorities had declared a health emergency.

Iqbal Maulana, the head of a kitchen that had provided some of the free meals, said: “We do it according to the standard operating procedure.

Source : https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2025/09/26/2003844470

Comprehension

Where did the recent mass food poisoning cases occur in Indonesia?
How many children were affected in West Java this week?
What is the goal of Indonesia’s free meals program by the end of the year?
How much is the program’s budget expected to be next year?
What did Governor Dedi Mulyadi say was the most important issue to address after the outbreaks?
What type of meal did student Lisa Bila Zahara eat before falling ill?
Why did Zahara’s mother forbid her from eating the free meals again?
According to Mulyadi, what cooking and storage problems may have caused the food to spoil?

Discussion

Why do you think school meal programs are important for students?
What risks come with providing meals to millions of students at once?
Do you think the program should continue or be paused until safety improves? Why?
How can governments make sure food in school programs is safe?
Should parents allow their children to eat free school meals after such incidents? Why or why not?
How might food poisoning affect children’s trust in school lunch programs?
What can schools and local governments do to prevent this from happening again?
How would you feel as a student if your classmates got sick from school food?
Do you think nutrition programs are still worth the risk if they sometimes face problems?
What lessons can other countries learn from Indonesia’s experience?

Vocabulary

Outbreak – a sudden start of illness affecting many people.
Suspend – to stop something for a short or long time.
Oversight – the process of checking if rules and standards are followed.
Makeshift – temporary and not perfect, but used for now.
Trauma – strong shock or fear caused by a bad experience.
Spoiled – food that has gone bad and is not safe to eat.
Evaluate – to carefully check or judge something.
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) – the usual official way to do something.