INTERNATIONAL – President Prabowo Subianto has defended Indonesia’s expansive free meals programme following reports that around 6,000 people, many of them children, fell ill from suspected food poisoning after consuming the government-provided meals. He acknowledged that “shortcomings” had occurred, but stressed that the affected cases represent a minute fraction 0.00017 percent of the total meals served.
Launched in January 2025, the initiative is a key part of Prabowo’s agenda to tackle childhood stunting and malnutrition nationwide. It seeks to provide free nutritious meals to students and pregnant women, eventually reaching 83 million beneficiaries by the end of the year. So far, the program has reached about 30 million recipients.
Prabowo admitted the incidents had triggered public concern, but he urged calm and highlighted the programme’s broader ambitions: “Are there shortcomings? Yes. Are there cases of food poisoning? Yes. But if we calculate, out of all the meals distributed, the irregularities or mistakes amount to just 0.00017 per cent.”
In response to the crisis, authorities have ordered tighter controls at cooking kitchens. Each facility will receive rapid food testing kits, food tray sterilizers, CCTV installations linked to central monitoring, and water filtration systems. To date, 40 out of 9,000 kitchens have been shut down for failing to meet hygiene or operating standards.
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Meanwhile, the National Nutrition Agency (Badan Gizi Nasional) has conceded that oversight lapses contributed to the outbreak. The agency’s deputy head, Nanik Deyang, expressed regret and attributed the incidents to procedural failures by both internal teams and external partners. She pointed to inconsistent cooking durations and use of subpar ingredients as factors in the food safety breakdown.
Critics and NGOs have urged a temporary suspension of the programme to allow for a full safety review. Some demand stringent audits of food supplier chains and stricter standards for kitchen partners. The financial sustainability of the programme is also under scrutiny: next year’s budget has been drafted at 335 trillion rupiah (about US$20 billion)—triple this year’s allocation.
Adding to the controversy, the president’s office briefly revoked the credentials of a CNN Indonesia reporter who questioned Prabowo on the incident. After backlash from press freedom advocates and the national press council, access was reinstated and an apology was offered.
As Indonesia navigates this crisis, the incident underscores the risks of scaling social assistance programs without robust safety checks, monitoring, and accountability mechanisms. The government’s response in the coming days will likely influence public trust and the program’s future trajectory.
