JAKARTA: Over 800 students fell sick in two cases of mass food poisoning this week after consuming free school meals sponsored by the Indonesian government, officials said on Friday.
One case affected more than 500 and was the biggest outbreak yet under President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship program. From January, when the program was launched, up to August, over 4,000 children have been hit by food poisoning after consuming the meals, according to Indonesian-based think tank, the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, raising questions on oversight.
In Indonesia’s West Java province, 569 students from five schools in the Garut region experienced nausea and vomiting on Wednesday after consuming chicken and rice provided by one free meals kitchen a day earlier, Nurdin Yana, the secretary of Garut regional government, told Reuters.
“As of Friday, ten students are still being treated at the hospital and others have recovered,” Yana said. Initially, about 30 students had to be hospitalized, while the rest were treated at home, he added.
The local government will increase surveillance of the kitchen that provided the meals, Yana said, adding the program would not be halted but, instead, students would be given more basic food, such as bread, milk, boiled eggs and fruit for now.
