More than 9,000 children in Indonesia got food poisoning from school meals

1/10/2025 17:50

More than 9,000 children in Indonesia have suffered food poisoning from free school meals this year, the country's food and drug agency said on Wednesday, a higher number than previously known, as lawmakers urged the government to improve standards.



The food poisoning cases have caused public outcry and health organisations have called for the suspension of President Prabowo Subianto's $10 billion free school meals programme. Prabowo has defended it, saying the percentage of those affected was small.



The government said previously that 6,000 children had suffered from food poisoning.



Indonesia's food and drug agency told a parliamentary hearing there were 103 food poisoning cases, affecting 9,089 children from January until September.

"In August, from the end of July, the cases really spiked," Taruna Ikrar, the agency's head told the hearing, adding problems stemmed from the kitchens cooking the food. Most kitchens involved in food poisoning cases had only been operating less than a month.



Based on the agency's investigations, food poisoning stemmed from distribution of meals four hours after cooking, improper storage of ingredients and lack of knowledge of food security, Ikrar said.