West Java School Lunch Poisoning Hits 1,000+ Children

More than 1,000 children in Indonesia’s West Java province have suffered food poisoning this week after consuming school lunches, officials said, marking another setback for the government’s free meals programme.

The mass poisoning occurred across four areas of West Java, Governor Dedi Mulyadi told on Thursday. More than 470 students fell ill in West Bandung on Monday, while at least 580 others were affected in three outbreaks on Wednesday in West Bandung and Sukabumi.

Hospitals in the region were overwhelmed, prompting local authorities to convert a sports hall into a makeshift treatment centre, where dozens of students were treated on fold-out beds or on the floor, according to reports.

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The affected lunches were part of President Prabowo Subianto’s free nutritious meals programme, which aims to feed over 20 million children this year, with a target of reaching 83 million people nationwide by year-end. The programme has a budget of 171 trillion rupiah ($10.22 billion), which is set to double next year.

Dadan Hindayana, head of the National Nutrition Agency overseeing the programme, said kitchens linked to the poisoning incidents have been suspended. Governor Mulyadi noted that kitchens were serving too many students and were located far from schools, forcing food to be prepared very early, sometimes the night before. “When the food was still warm, it was immediately put on the tray and the tray was closed, making it spoiled, stale,” he said.

Since the programme’s launch in January, at least 6,452 children nationwide have suffered food poisoning, according to the Network for Education Watch think tank. NGOs have called for a temporary suspension of the meals programme amid safety concerns.

West Bandung has declared a health emergency, allowing the provincial government to allocate funds to manage the crisis and care for affected children. Governor Mulyadi emphasized the need to support students recovering from the trauma of the poisoning.

Officials from President Prabowo’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest incidents.