In Indonesia, More Than 360 People Get Ill After Eating Free School Lunches
After over 360 people fell unwell after consuming free school lunches, an investigation is in progress.
Officials reported on Thursday, August 14, that this was the biggest instance of food illness connected to President Prabowo Subianto’s free lunch program. According to Reuters and the Indonesian news site The Jakarta Post, the epidemic happened in Sragen, Central Java.
After 365 people became ill, food samples were sent to a lab for analysis, according to Sragen government chairman Sigit Pamungkas. According to the news sites, he also stated that the government will pay for any necessary medical care.
According to The Jakarta Post, the purportedly tainted meal, which was prepared in a central kitchen and distributed to multiple schools, contained fried tempeh, turmeric rice, omelet ribbons, cucumber and lettuce salad, sliced apple, and a box of milk.
Pamungkas informed the outlet, “We have requested that the food distribution from that kitchen be temporarily halted until the lab results are returned.”
Gemolong 1 Middle School ninth grader Wizdan Ridho Abimanyu told Reuters that he woke up with a sudden, intense discomfort in his stomach. He discovered that some of his classmates also experienced diarrhea and headaches after looking on social media.
More than 1,000 Indonesians have contracted food illness since the free school lunches started in January.
Following these widespread occurrences of food poisoning, Dadan Hindayana, the head of the National Nutrition Agency, stated that standards for food delivery and kitchen operations have improved (Reuters).
The National Nutrition Agency oversees the free meal program, which currently serves over 15 million people. With a $10.62 billion budget, officials hope to grow the program to 83 million participants by the end of the year.
According to The Guardian, some 190 kitchens across the country, some of which were operated by military installations, opened in January to make the meals.
According to The Guardian, the outbreak this month comes after another event in May in which more than 200 pupils in West Java became ill after consuming food that tested positive for the pathogens Salmonella and E. coli.
