Over 360 People Get Sick After Eating Free School Lunches in Indonesia
An investigation is underway after more than 360 people became ill from eating free school lunches.
On Thursday, Aug. 14, officials said that this was the largest food poisoning case linked to President Prabowo Subianto’s free meals program. The outbreak occurred in Sragen, Central Java, according to Reuters and Indonesian news outlet The Jakarta Post.
Sragen government chief Sigit Pamungkas said food samples have been sent to a lab for testing after 365 people got sick. He also said the government would cover any necessary medical treatment, according to the news outlets.
The allegedly contaminated lunch, which was made in a central kitchen and sent to several schools, included turmeric rice, omelet ribbons, fried tempeh, cucumber and lettuce salad, sliced apple, and a box of milk, The Jakarta Post reported.
“We have asked to temporarily stop the food distribution from that kitchen until the lab results are back,” Pamungkas told the outlet.
Wizdan Ridho Abimanyu, a ninth grader at Gemolong 1 Middle School, told Reuters that he woke up with a “sharp pain” in his stomach. After checking social media, he realized some of his classmates also had headaches and diarrhea.
Since the free school meals began in January, over 1,000 people across Indonesia have experienced food poisoning.
The National Nutrition Agency’s chief, Dadan Hindayana, said kitchen operations and food delivery standards have been improved after these mass food poisoning cases, according to Reuters.
Currently, more than 15 million people benefit from the free meals program, which is managed by the National Nutrition Agency. Authorities aim to expand the program to reach 83 million people by the end of the year, with a budget of $10.62 billion.
Around 190 kitchens were opened nationwide in January to prepare the meals, including some run by military bases, according to The Guardian.
This month’s outbreak follows another incident in May, when over 200 students in West Java fell ill after eating food that tested positive for Salmonella and E. coli bacteria, The Guardian reported.
