Central Java Secretary Highlights Nutritionists' Role After Suspected Food Poisoning

Central Java's Regional Secretary, Sumarno, has emphasized the critical role of nutritionists in overseeing the free nutritious meal program (MBG), particularly in ensuring the suitability of menus and food safety.

His remarks came in response to a suspected food poisoning case involving the head of the MBG service unit in Jati, Karanganyar Regency. Sumarno pointed out that nutritionists stationed at these units should be the primary assessors of food quality, rather than the unit heads.

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Actually, there are nutritionists there. They should be the ones assessing it earlier. It shouldn't have to be the head of the MBG unit.

"Actually, there are nutritionists there. They should be the ones assessing it earlier. It shouldn't have to be the head of the MBG unit," Sumarno stated during an interview, addressing the incident. He noted that one of the recurring issues in MBG program suspicions is the extended time between food preparation and its serving, which can lead to bacterial growth.

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The duration might be a bit too long. So yesterday, the identification was actually several issues because it took a bit long, bacteria eventually appeared.

Sumarno suggested that the large volume of meals, sometimes around 3,000 portions per kitchen, requires adequate time management and staffing. He recalled that the Central Java provincial government initially proposed a concept for the MBG program that involved empowering school canteens. This approach aimed to alleviate the burden on a single kitchen and leverage existing infrastructure, especially since the provincial education department already promotes healthy canteens in collaboration with BPOM (the National Agency of Drug and Food Control).

Despite the challenges, Sumarno expressed confidence that the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), under Sudaryono's leadership, would implement necessary improvements to the MBG program's execution.

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Why did we in Central Java initially propose the MBG concept by empowering school canteens? Because we in Central Java already have a healthy canteen program from the education department. We also cooperate with BPOM.