Indonesia's free meal scheme faces calls for stronger food safety standards
Indonesia 's flagship free nutritious meals programme, a centrepiece of President Prabowo Subianto 's administration, has come under more scrutiny following yet another mass food poisoning incident and allegations of funding irregularities.
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Launched in January with a budget of US$4.2 billion, the programme aims to reduce stunting and malnutrition by providing meals to 82.9 million students, toddlers, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. Several food-poisoning incidents, however, have prompted calls for closer oversight as the government pledged to strengthen the programme.
At least 165 students at two schools in Cianjur regency in West Java fell ill after consuming free meals on April 21, with nearly 80 hospitalised. Authorities have declared the incident an 'extraordinary event' and are conducting investigations.
Tono Listianto, head of the criminal investigation unit at the Cianjur district police, said preliminary tests of food containers that were used by the students showed contamination with 'staphylococcus, E coli, and salmonella bacteria'.
'It is not yet possible to conclude the cause of the poisoning, because the results from the food sample test … will come out in 10 working days,' Tono told local media outlet Detik.
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Reports of food poisoning linked to the free meals programme have also surfaced in Southeast Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara and Central Java over the past three months, according to local authorities.
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