October 22, 2025
JAKARTA – Hundreds of students in Maluku and North Sumatra have reportedly suffered from food poisoning after consuming meals provided through the government’s free nutritious meal program, as President Prabowo Subianto continues to downplay mounting concerns over the initiative’s food safety standards.
At least 170 students from fours schools in Kiratu subdistrict, West Seram Regency in Maluku suffered from food poisoning after consuming government-supplied meals of rice, eggs, tofu and vegetables on Monday.
Local officials said the affected students ranged from kindergarten to high school and experienced symptoms including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Kasrurdin, head of Talaga Ratu village, where most of the affected schools are located, said several students exhibited severe symptoms such as bluish facial discoloration after consuming the meals.
“Some students even vomited blood, and others had foam coming from their mouths,” he said on Monday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
Because of the overwhelming number of cases, the local Kiratu Community Health Center (Puskesmas) was forced to set up a temporary treatment area using military tents and foldout beds, as the existing facilities were insufficient to accommodate the sick students.
In response to the incident, the West Seram Regency Administration has suspended all free meal kitchens in the region pending further investigation.
Read also: Mass poisoning cases surge as free meals continue
West Seram Police Chief Sr. Adj. Comr. Andi Zulkifli confirmed that authorities, in collaboration with the local health agency, have launched an investigation into the outbreak.
“We are conducting a thorough and professional investigation to determine the exact cause of the food poisoning,” Zulkifli said.
The incident in Maluku follows similar food-related health scares in North Sumatra last week.
On Oct. 15, at least 121 people in Toba Regency, including students, teachers and kitchen workers, suffered symptoms of food poisoning after consuming government-provided meals. The meals that day included white rice, tilapia, mustard greens and watermelon.
One affected student, Laura Pangaribuan, said symptoms appeared within an hour of eating.
“I vomited before I even got home, and so did many of my friends,” she said while receiving treatment at HKBP Hospital in Balige.
In response, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) officially halted operations at two free meal kitchens in Toba pending further investigation.
Earlier, on Oct. 10, SMPN 3 Medan junior high school also raised concerns when 350 out of 1,050 meals delivered were suspected to be spoiled because of a foul odor.
“The chicken smelled bad. We didn’t think the food was safe to eat, so we returned it to the kitchen that prepared it,” school principal Bisri Batubara said on Oct. 15.
Since its launch in January, the government’s free meals program has been plagued by a series of food safety incidents.
Read also: Prabowo claims 8% growth is possible through free meals program
As of Sunday, education watchdog the Network for Education Watch Indonesia (JPPI) had recorded some 13,168 students having experienced ill effects. The Health Ministry, meanwhile, recorded almost 11,660 victims as of Oct.5.
In addition to widespread food poisoning, students have also reported discovering shards of glass, maggots and caterpillars in their packaged meals.
The program has also faced mounting criticism after it was revealed that some kitchens were serving extremely small portions, far below what would be expected from the Rp 10,000 (64 US cents) per meal budget. Other meals reportedly included ultra-processed and sugary drinks, raising further concerns about nutritional quality.
President Prabowo has continued to reaffirm his support for the free meals initiative, dismissing growing calls to suspend the program. He argued that the food poisoning incidents linked to the program are being disproportionately amplified and do not reflect the overall success of the effort.
“Yes, this program is not perfect. But the food poisoning cases have been blown out of proportion,” he said over the weekend.
“To date, more than 1.4 billion meals have been distributed, with around 8,000 suspected cases of food poisoning. Statistically, that’s approximately 0.0007 to 0.0008 percent. In other words, the program has been 99.99 percent successful,” Prabowo added.