Last month, Cucu Mulyati faced every parent’s worst nightmare: a frantic call about her 17-year-old son, Acep Sulaeman, who had suddenly fallen gravely ill. He had begun to feel sick while eating the free school lunch provided on campus, a meal consisting of fried chicken, rice, crisp lettuce, and fresh strawberries.
Acep was rushed to a makeshift clinic located half an hour from his quiet village of Saguling, Indonesia. The scene there was overwhelming.
“There were hundreds of sick children in there,” Ms. Cucu recounted, her voice still laced with panic. “I frantically went from stretcher to stretcher, desperately searching for him.”
He was just one of over 1,300 children who became ill in Cipongkor District, West Java Province, during late September, causing him to miss nearly two weeks of school.
Across Indonesia, food poisoning incidents are escalating. Thousands of children have been sickened by free school lunches, a critical component of a national meal program launched by President Prabowo Subianto in January. This initiative is a monumental undertaking in the world’s fourth-most-populous country, an archipelago spanning three time zones.
The map below illustrates the affected regions in Indonesia, highlighting West Java, East Java, South Sulawesi, and the Riau Islands. This visual depicts the geographical spread of the food poisoning incidents across the country’s diverse provinces, providing a clear overview of the areas impacted by the program’s shortcomings.
Experts are raising serious questions about whether Indonesia’s fragile economy can sustain such an extensive program, which also provides meals to pregnant women. Known as M.B.G., an acronym for Makan Bergizi Gratis, or free nutritious meals, its economic viability is a major concern.
For many families, the program has been a lifeline. Ms. Cucu acknowledged that it eased her family’s financial burden, noting that her daughter had been receiving free meals at her school for months without any issues.
However, recurring instances of contaminated food—with hundreds more falling ill just last week—have left parents deeply concerned. These incidents have sparked protests and widespread calls for the program’s suspension or even its outright termination.
“The most detrimental issue is the lack of a regulatory framework,” stated Diah Saminarsih, founder of the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives, a public health think tank. “There are no regulations, no playbook, no references — everything is up to interpretation.”
President Prabowo has staunchly defended the ambitious program, a key promise from his campaign last year. He asserts that it has significantly improved nutrition for many children, created jobs, and supported local farmers.
“We managed to feed 30 million recipients,” he declared on September 29. “There are shortcomings; there are food poisonings. We counted all the food that goes out — the deviation, the deficiency, or error is 0.00017 percent.”
Nutritionist Tan Shot Yen sharply countered this defense: “That margin of error is acceptable in a shoe factory. But we are talking about human lives, not a product.”
Investigations confirmed that the food responsible for sickening children in Cipongkor last month was contaminated with salmonella and bacillus cereus bacteria.
“Acep said his body was burning up and he couldn’t breathe, even before he finished his meal,” Ms. Cucu revealed, expressing her newfound apprehension about her children participating in the free lunch program.
Alarming reports from other provinces include children finding maggots in their meals in East Java and South Sulawesi, and rice containing glass shards in the Riau Islands. A widely circulated video showed kitchen staff in West Java washing food trays with soap before rinsing them in dirty, stagnant water.
Ms. Diah’s think tank has meticulously documented nearly 11,500 cases of food poisoning linked to the program.
The agency aims to serve almost 83 million beneficiaries and establish 32,000 kitchens by year-end, with a proposed budget of 335 trillion rupiah (approximately $20 billion) for 2026.
Nanik S. Deyang, the deputy chief of the agency, admitted to supervisory failures. “We manage thousands of kitchens,” she said. “We were negligent in our supervision, we admit that — and for that, we sincerely apologize.”
Dr. Tan, the nutritionist, strongly advocates for M.B.G. to prioritize local, fresh ingredients over ultra-processed items like sausages, prepackaged cookies, and cakes. Authorities, however, argue for creative meal solutions to ensure children consume the food and reduce waste.
“One of the objectives of M.B.G. is to provide education to the public, to the children,” she emphasized. “You can still cater to children’s taste while following the rules of nutrition.”
Public health experts and civil society groups acknowledge the program’s noble intentions but warn that its rushed implementation, coupled with a lack of clear planning and standards, risks exacerbating the very problems it seeks to solve. They also criticize the significant involvement of Indonesia’s armed forces and police in civilian programs. Some critics suggest the program’s rapid expansion is strategically benefiting President Prabowo’s political allies.
The government maintains its sole objective is to assist its citizens.
“You cannot achieve public health without political commitment,” Ms. Diah asserted. “You need political commitment, and it’s good to have it. But do not abuse it.”
For many, the continued expansion of the program without addressing its fundamental flaws is a profound concern. M.B.G.’s target beneficiaries have grown fivefold from the initial 17 million people.
“Increasing the target while overwhelming the operational process will only continue to increase the number of victims,” Ms. Diah cautioned. “Instead of generating good impact, it is poisoning kids.”