365 in Indonesia suffer food poisoning after eating from Prabowo’s free meals programme

According to an official, 365 people have fallen ill with food poisoning after consuming school lunches in Indonesia's town of Sragen in Central Java.

This is the largest food poisoning case since Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto implemented his free meal programme earlier in January.

Prabowo had introduced the programme as a strategic initiative aimed at tackling child malnutrition, while boosting Indonesia's regional economies at the same time, Reuters reported.

Several students complained of food poisoning symptoms

Speaking with Reuters, Wizdan Ridho Abimanyu, who is a a Grade 9 student at Gemolong 1 middle school in Sragen, recalled waking up to a sharp pain in his stomach at night.

He also suffered from a headache and diarrhoea.

After seeing several of his schoolmates' posting about the same symptoms on social media, he suspected that the symptoms were caused by food poisoning.

Investigations are ongoing

Sragen government chief Sigit Pamungkas revealed that a total of 365 people had fallen ill and samples of the food were being tested in a lab, as reported in Reuters.

The food poisoning incident was traced back to a central kitchen that distributed food to several schools.

The suspected menu comprised turmeric rice, omelette ribbons, fried tempeh, cucumber and lettuce salad, sliced apple and a box of milk.

Authorities have since halted food distribution from that kitchen, pending the results of the lab tests.

The Indonesian government has also pledged that they would pay for any medical treatment necessary.

Not the first food poisoning case

According to The Guardian, since the programme's launch earlier this year, there have been numerous reports of poisoning cases across the archipelago, with more than 1,000 people affected.

In May, more than 200 people in a city in West Java fell ill, with lab results revealing that the food had been contaminated by Salmonella and E. coli bacteria.

Dadan Hindayana, who is the chief of the National Nutrition Agency, the government body which oversees the programme, said that kitchen operations and delivery standards have been tightened following previous food poisoning cases.

The free meals programme currently serves over 15 million recipients, with plans to reach 83 million by the end of this year at a cost of 171 trillion rupiah (around S$13.4 billion).

Top photo via AFP