The Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program is claimed to have reached two million beneficiaries in 38 provinces in Indonesia. Before expanding its scope, the government was asked to conduct a “major evaluation”, especially considering that more than 100 school children were suspected of being poisoned after eating MBG. If not, observers fear that there could be fatalities.
On Monday morning (24/2), teachers at an elementary school in Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara, arranged gray lunch boxes on a table outside the classroom.
About 300 students there had just eaten the MBG provided by the government. The menu that day: white rice, fried chicken, French fries, tofu patties, eggplant vegetables, and a thin slice of melon.
Audree, one of the students, was seen walking out of the classroom while carrying her lunch box towards the table.
“Is it finished?” asked Eliazar Robert, a journalist in Kupang who reported for BBC News Indonesia.
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“No,” Audree said, shaking her head.
Audree then showed her lunch box. She only devoured rice and French fries. Other side dishes, vegetables and fruits were still complete.
"So purse smelly eggplant. He purse “Chickens smell too,” Audree said.
"Traumatized from eating meat because I recently ate meat and then got sick."
Some teachers then opened the lunch boxes on the table. From there it was seen, there were students who only ate rice, fried chicken, and perkedel, there were also those who only devoured French fries.
They then separated the remaining food. Those that were still edible were stacked in one box, those that were stale were collected in a black plastic bag.
Rice, fried chicken, eggplant, and melon were crammed into the plastic bag.
Deciana Koten, one of the teachers, put another portion of rice into the bag.
“This is stale,” said Deciana.
“The rice is wet.”
The MBG program has been running for a week at the elementary school, since Monday (17/02), and according to Deciana—as well as several other teachers—every day there is food that has gone stale.
"Maybe they cooked the night before, then put the food there while it was still hot," said Deciana.
"So the steam from the food is trapped inside the food container, so it goes stale."
Because of that, he added, a number of children had stomach aches and vomited after eating MBG in the first week of its implementation there.
"There were children from several classes who gave [all their food] back, they didn't want to eat, they were traumatized by the food that had gone stale the day before," said Deciana, before saying she had reported this to the officer who delivered the food to the school.
One of the children who had a stomach ache was Michelle. It happened on Friday (21/02).
“Eating tastes bland and stale,” says Michelle.
“Every day I don’t eat until I finish.”
Vincent Soge, the deputy principal of this elementary school, admitted that some of the side dishes and vegetables from the MBG program were stale, although not all of them. In addition, there were also side dishes that were hard when served, so the children were reluctant to eat them.
Therefore, a number of parents of students were said to have deliberately prepared provisions for their children on Monday (24/02).
"I'm afraid the child won't eat," said Vincent.
Efforts to boost MBG
Monday afternoon (24/02), on the same day after elementary school teachers in Kupang City found a pile of stale food from MBG, the central government was proud of the achievements of this program.
Dadan Hindayana, Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) who is the coordinator of MBG, said the program has reached more than two million people in 38 provinces in Indonesia since it was first implemented on January 6, 2025.
"Today alhamdulillah "It has been completed in 38 provinces, because Central Papua has only just started operating today," Dadan said at the Presidential Palace complex, Jakarta.
In total, he said, there are 693 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) or MBG kitchens that have been operating throughout the province, 117 of which started operating on Monday (24/02).
Dadan said the MBG program would continue throughout the month of Ramadan, which falls in March, with a number of adjustments in the food distribution process.
"We will provide nutritious food to take home. So for those who are fasting, it can be eaten when breaking the fast, for those who are not fasting, it can be eaten secretly at school or at home," he said.
The government previously allocated IDR 71 trillion for the implementation of the MBG program in 2025, with the target beneficiaries expected to increase gradually.
By the end of March, MBG is targeted to have reached three million people, including toddlers, school children, and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
The number of beneficiaries is projected to rise again to reach six million by the end of August and between 15 million and 17,5 million by the end of December.
After that, the government hopes that MBG can be distributed to 82,9 million people in 2029, the year of the presidential election.
However, recently the government has set a more ambitious target to reach 82,9 million people by September 2025 at the earliest. For this reason, Dadan said the MBG program requires additional funds of IDR 25 trillion per month.
"So, if we accelerate [MBG] starting in September, then we will need Rp100 trillion [until the end of the year]. If it turns out that it can be done starting in October, then the additional Rp75 trillion," said Dadan.
This explains why Finance Minister Sri Mulyani previously intended to increase the MBG fund allocation by IDR 100 trillion this year.
According to Dadan, there are three determining factors for the success of the MBG program: budget, human resources or HR, and infrastructure.
Regarding the budget, the government has prepared the funds. For infrastructure, the government will partner with various parties, including private catering providers, MSMEs, the TNI, Polri, ministries, and local governments.
However, for human resources, Dadan said there are only about 2.000 people who have been educated and are ready to serve in the MBG kitchen. It will take approximately 30.000 more people if the government wants MBG to reach 82,9 million people.
"And, the 30.000 who will be educated will only finish their education at the end of July. So it will only be ready in early August," said Dadan.
In August, he added, the 30.000 workers must undergo field orientation and coordinate with various parties first.
"That's why [the acceleration] started in September," said Dadan.
"Because the human resources will only be ready to go into the field in August and provide services in September."
A series of suspected poisoning and spoiled food
Trubus Rahardiansah, a public policy observer from Trisakti University, is surprised by the government's attitude which seems to be rushing to implement MBG with various large targets even though the current implementation of the program is not yet convincing.
Moreover, reports have emerged about alleged poisoning experienced by more than 100 school children in various regions, which Trubus said should be an "alarm" for the government.
On 13 January 2025, at least 29 elementary school students and more than 30 high school students in South Nunukan, North Kalimantan, suspected food poisoning from the MBG program.
The elementary and high school students reportedly experienced nausea and diarrhea after eating stale soy sauce chicken cooked in the same kitchen.
"We, the school, suspect that the unfinished breakfast delivery menu was distributed for the lunch delivery menu. Because there were some stale side dishes, some were still good," Hairuddin said, the principal of the relevant elementary school.
The Abi Al Ummi Foundation, which prepared food for the school, admitted that it had made a mistake and promised to be more careful in the future.
The day after the incident, a number of the same high school students found small worms in the fried tuna served to them.
"We found small worms in the tuna. We took the samples to the kitchen and asked for special attention," said Burhan, the student affairs staff at the high school.
“Not all the dishes have worms, just some. But this shouldn’t happen.”
On January 16, at least 40 elementary school students in Sukoharjo, Central Java, experienced dizziness, nausea, and vomiting after consuming MBG with a menu of rice, stir-fried carrots and tofu, fried chicken, fruit, and milk.
Sukoharjo Health Center had time state The fried chicken served was not cooked perfectly, so the result was undercooked. Some parents of students who BBC News Indonesia talk also conveys similar things.
Dadan Hindayana, Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), said the incident occurred due to "purely a technical error". The fried chicken in question was immediately withdrawn and replaced with boiled eggs, he said.
Eny Windarti, one of the parents of a student suspected of being poisoned in Sukoharjo, said that her child had felt nauseous, but immediately got better after receiving medicine from the health center.
After the incident, he said the MBG program is still running. His child eats the food provided every day and has not experienced anything similar until now.
However, Eny warned her child to check the food first before eating it.
"If you want to eat, check it first, smell it first, try it first. After that, eat it," said Eny to journalist Fajar Sodiq who reported for BBC News Indonesia.
On 4 February, a high school student in Semarang, Central Java, experienced dizziness, vomiting, and fever after eating “stale mendoan” served in an MBG lunch box.
Diah, the student's older sister, said her younger sibling was immediately taken to the nearest health center and treated there. The cost of his treatment was covered by the Semarang City Government.
Because of this, Diah's younger sibling now chooses to bring her own lunch or buy snacks at the school canteen. If she wants to eat the MBG menu, her younger sibling is asked to be very careful.
"Rather than the same thing happening again," said Diah to BBC News Indonesia.
Diah also said that her sister's school warned that any criticism or suggestions should be submitted directly to the MBG program manager and "should not be disseminated to the public".
On 18 February, eight elementary school students in Empat Lawang, South Sumatra, experienced dizziness, stomach ache, and then vomited after eating an MBG menu that was thought to be stale and wormy.
As a result, the eight students were treated in the local health center's emergency room. The Empat Lawang Police also temporarily stopped the implementation of the MBG program, while asking the program manager to conduct a comprehensive evaluation.
"The results of the evaluation must also be conveyed to the public. The goal is to provide peace of mind to the public. Don't let it happen, later the public will be traumatized by the MBG menu," said Empat Lawang Police Chief Abdul Aziz Septiadi.
The Vieki Indira Foundation, which is under the coordination of the Indonesian Catering Service Providers Association (PPJI) of South Sumatra, is tasked with preparing the MBG menu for Empat Lawang.
Evie Hadenli, Chair of the South Sumatra PPJI DPD, denied that his party was responsible for this incident.
He said the menu distributed on February 18 was patin fish. crispy fillet, fried vermicelli, fried tofu, and papaya, still fresh and unlikely to have worms.
"Fish fillet thin and crispy like crackers, it is impossible to have maggots. Unless the fish is whole or undercooked, then it makes sense. Of course this raises questions," said Evie.
The MBG program was then continued at this elementary school on February 21.
Also on 18 February, at least 15 elementary school children in Waingapu City in East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, are suspected of being poisoned after eating the MBG menu consisting of rice, fried noodles, tofu, fried tempeh, eggs, and bananas.
They were said to have experienced a range of symptoms, from dizziness to stomach aches, nausea and vomiting. One student was said to have needed oxygen for shortness of breath.
"Because they felt dizzy, nauseous, and felt stomach pain which they said was like being stabbed in the stomach, so the doctor took action," said Fransiskus Xaverius Geroda, the head of the elementary school in Matawai sub-district in Waingapu to journalist Eliazar Robert who reported for BBC News Indonesia.
Some children, he added, did not have breakfast or even dinner at home before eating the MBG menu, which is thought to affect their physical condition.
The sick children were grades 3-6 of elementary school who were recorded as having eaten the MBG menu at around 11 WITA.
According to Yusuf Wilianto Umbu Tay, the parent of two students at the elementary school who were suspected of being poisoned, his children said that a number of side dishes tasted stale when eaten, especially eggs, tempeh and fried noodles.
Yusuf said the MBG program was actually good, but it seemed that its management was not optimal so that incidents like this could occur.
Moreover, based on the information he received from the school, there were only 40 people tasked with preparing MBG for nine schools—including his child's elementary school—in his area with a total number of students of around 3.000.
He and other parents are worried that something similar will happen again in the future, so, according to him, if MBG is not ready, it is better not to run it at all.
"For example, if our children leave healthy, suddenly because of a government program they eat at school, suddenly they come home, sick, well, which parent's heart doesn't hurt if they are like that?" said Yusuf.
“Definitely disappointed.”
Jesica Sodakain, the manager of the local MBG kitchen, said the children were vomiting because they were not used to eating eggs. stir fry cooked with cheese and milk.
"That's why they vomit. It's just because they're not used to it," said Jesica.
When confirmed, the school said there were no food menus cooked with milk.
On 19 February, the incident also occurred at another elementary school in Waingapu, precisely in Kambajawa Village.
That day, during the first break at around 9.15 WITA, the school children should have started eating MBG.
However, because the food arrived late, some 6th grade students chose to buy yellow rice with fried noodles and eggs at the canteen, said Hamuli Ngguna Manggil, the principal of the elementary school.
After the children had their snacks, the MBG boxes arrived, which were immediately distributed by the 6th grade teacher. The teacher then went to the toilet and, after finishing going to the toilet, found a number of students running towards him.
"The children were running around, saying, 'Mother, Mother, there were two boxes of rice but the meat wasn't cooked, it was still bloody,'" Hamuli told journalist Eliazar Robert who reported for BBC News Indonesia.
In one of the rice boxes, red raw meat was found that still looked bloody. In another box, there was also undercooked meat, but not as bad.
The 6th grade teacher took photos and videos of the raw meat and uploaded them on social media. The post went viral shortly after.
Various parties then came to this elementary school to check for themselves, including security and Jesica Sodakain as the manager of the local MBG kitchen.
According to Hamuli, Jesica insisted that the raw meat did not come from the kitchen she managed. Moreover, in the lunch box the white rice had been mixed with yellow rice and a red chili.
Hamuli said the yellow rice did come from the canteen and the chili was brought by a student himself. However, he said, the discovery of raw meat in the MBG box was true.
"So it's as if we, the school, engineered it and the school added coloring material to the food. "That was their dissatisfaction, until they reported it to the police," said Hamuli.
When contacted BBC News Indonesia, Jesica conveyed her rebuttal.
"That is against the rules because the food that he photographed and posted was food that had been contaminated with food from outside," said Jesica.
A day later, on 20 February, Hamuli said hair was also found in the MBG box received by his school.
Hamuli showed the lunch box with the hair tucked in to journalists who came to school, which then made Jesica even more inflamed.
According to Jesica, this is “inappropriate”.
Due to these two incidents, the MBG kitchen managed by Jesica temporarily stopped supplying food to the elementary school in Kambajawa, Waingapu, before restarting it on February 25.
On 24 February, teachers at an elementary school in Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara, also found stale side dishes and vegetables in a number of MBG lunch boxes.
The MBG program has been running for a week at the elementary school and every day there is food that has gone bad, said Deciana Koten, one of the teachers there.
Because of that, he added, a number of children had stomach aches and vomited after eating MBG in the first week of its implementation there.
"There were children from several classes who gave all [their food] back, didn't want to eat, traumatized by the food that had gone stale the day before," said Deciana.
Responding to all cases of alleged poisoning due to MBG, Dadan from BGN said that MBG kitchens are not yet accustomed to providing services in large numbers.
"It takes getting used to serving large numbers first," Dadan said to BBC News Indonesia.
“From the experience of being good at cooking for four people, it took me up to three months to get used to cooking for large quantities, both in terms of doneness and taste.”
"For those who are new, be reminded repeatedly to start with a small amount, once you get used to it you can increase the amount gradually."
Dadan said that his party continues to conduct evaluations to improve the implementation of MBG in the future.
If a student falls ill due to poisoning, he said, there are operational costs in each SPPG or MBG kitchen to handle it, although he did not explain in detail the mechanism for managing the medical costs.
Bobby Hamzar Rafinus, Deputy Chairman of the Ombudsman, said that his party had been monitoring the implementation of MBG after finding many incidents related to this program, including alleged poisoning.
"The Ombudsman expects local MBG service providers to be responsible for incidents that have negative impacts such as poisoning," said Bobby.
'A major evaluation is needed'
Public policy observer Agus Pambagio emphasized that there must be a “major evaluation” in the implementation of the MBG program, which he said had been carried out in a “rushed manner in order to pursue political promises.”
The alleged poisoning cases that have been covered by the mass media, he said, could be only a small part of what is actually happening in the field.
"What I'm afraid of is that there will be fatalities," said Agus.
Rather than forcing MBG to run on a national scale, the government is said to be better off running MBG on a small scale first, before slowly expanding its scope.
Trubus Rahardiansah, a public policy observer from Trisakti University, agrees with Agus.
According to Trubus, the government should focus on implementing MBG for the poor first, especially those living in disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost areas. After that, the government can target other community groups.
Now that MBG has started, the government is said to have to evaluate and improve the governance of the program.
"Now in my opinion, just move the management to schools, school canteens. Don't use catering services anymore," said Trubus.
Ah Maftuchan, executive director of the research institute The Prakarsa, said it would be better if the central government “decentralized the MBG program” by giving more authority to local governments or related schools.
Moreover, the current MBG kitchens are said to be often located far from the schools they target, especially in areas outside Java.
With decentralization, it is hoped that food quality can be maintained due to shorter distribution distances.
Food ingredients can also be sourced from the surrounding area, and cooked into a menu that suits “local tastes”, although still with reference to national nutritional standards.
"I see that this region does not seem to have a part in this program. So this is considered a central government program, and indeed the central government seems to have not optimally involved the regional government," said Maftuchan.
“Ultimately, there are limitations that result in cases of poisoning.”
“This program should truly be available to everyone, including local stakeholders.”
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This coverage was carried out by journalists Viriya Singgih and Silvano Hajid in Jakarta, Eliazar Robert in East Nusa Tenggara, Fajar Sodiq in Central Java, and Nefri Inge in South Sumatra.
Read more here: bbc.com