September 27, 2025 | 05:32 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is set to summon the Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, following the widespread cases of food poisoning from the free nutritious meal program (MBG), which has affected thousands of children.
"I have just returned from abroad for seven days. I have been monitoring the developments. After this, I will immediately summon the head of the BGN along with several officials. We will discuss this," stated Prabowo upon arriving at the Halim Perdanakusumah Air Force Base in Jakarta on Saturday, September 27, 2025.
Prabowo has just completed international agendas in the past week. He attended the United Nations General Assembly, as well as bilateral visits to Canada and the Netherlands.
Prabowo stated that the cases of food poisoning from the free nutritious meals program are a major issue. He also acknowledged that the program's implementation still has room for improvement. However, he reminded us not to politicize the issue of food poisoning related to the free nutritious meals program.
"The purpose of nutritious meals is for our children, who often have difficulty eating. While we eat relatively well, they only eat rice with salt," said Prabowo. "This is what we need to address, to ensure that millions of them are fed; there will certainly be obstacles. This we will address," he added.
By the end of September 2025, the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network recorded approximately 6,452 cases of food poisoning related to President Prabowo Subianto's flagship program.
The organizer of the nutritious meals program, the BGN, recorded a lower total of victims. According to data compiled by the BGN in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (BPOM), the number of food poisoning cases from the free nutritious meals program throughout this year is around 5,000 people.
The BGN is reluctant to temporarily stop the nutritious meals program amid the numerous cases of food poisoning. The head of the BGN, Dadan Hindayana, stated that they will make improvements while continuing to pursue the program's intended beneficiaries.
According to Dadan, the government is faced with the dilemma of improving its human resources to ensure the program runs smoothly or pursuing the target number of beneficiaries. However, he said, either way, the target of this program has been planned well in advance.
Dadan chose to prioritize the second option of pursuing the target number of beneficiaries. "The main thing is how the target can be fulfilled," said Dadan at his office in Jakarta on Monday, September 22, 2025.
The BGN will establish an investigation team to probe the cause of the food poisoning in the free nutritious meals program. This investigation team will consist of nutrition experts, chemistry experts, pharmacists, and will involve the BPOM.
The Deputy Head of the BGN, Nanik S. Deyang, stated that the team will consist of five to six people. However, she mentioned that the organization is still finalizing several names, so they are unable to disclose who will be recruited. "But we will definitely hire experts," Nanik said over the phone on Monday, September 22, 2025.
Sultan Abdurrahman contributed to the writing of this article
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