Hundreds of Indonesian boarding-school students fall ill after free meal, official says no deaths

A total of 431 students at Manbaul Hikam Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, are being treated at eight referral hospitals after allegedly falling ill following a Free Nutritious Meal, or MBG, on Sept. 1.

East Java Deputy Governor Emil Elestianto Dardak rejected reports that anyone had died. “There were reports earlier, and I am sorry, that someone had died. That is not true. No one died,” he said while visiting patients at Sidoarjo’s RT Notopuro Regional Hospital.

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There were reports earlier, and I am sorry, that someone had died. That is not true. No one died.

Dardak, who also leads the East Java MBG task force, said the complaints extended beyond the boarding school. Students at other schools that received meals from the same kitchen also reported problems. The affected institutions included high schools, junior high schools, elementary schools and kindergartens. In total, 19 educational institutions in Tanggulangin district were affected.

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There are 19 affected institutions. There are 19 affected educational institutions, one of which is Manbaul Hikam Islamic boarding school.

The kitchen supplying the meals, SPPG Tanggulangin Kalitengah, already held a Certificate of Eligibility for Hygiene and Sanitation, known as SLHS. Dardak said assessments found its facilities adequate, many food handlers had completed certification and it had also obtained halal certification.

But he said the certification did not eliminate every risk. “SLHS assesses the system and infrastructure,” he said, adding that problems could still arise from the quality of ingredients or from failing to follow standard procedures at the correct time. Teguh Bayu Wibowo, deputy coordinator of the National Nutrition Agency’s East Java regional office, said the central agency had temporarily suspended the kitchen after the incident.

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SLHS assesses the system and infrastructure.