More Free Meal Poisonings Hit Indonesia: Seven Students Sick in Bengkulu

Seven students at State Elementary School 59 in Bengkulu were taken to hospital after eating meals provided through Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meal program. They complained of dizziness, stomach pain and vomiting.

Teacher Ningrum Hartanto said she noticed something wrong as soon as she opened her meal box. “When I opened the food box, I smelled a bad odor, particularly coming from the chicken nuggets,” she said.

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When I opened the food box, I smelled a bad odor, particularly coming from the chicken nuggets.

School administrators immediately told students to stop eating. Some had already consumed the food, however, and began reporting severe abdominal pain and nausea about 15 minutes later. Staff first took the affected students to a community health center, then referred them to the emergency department at Harapan dan Doa Hospital in Bengkulu.

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Samples of the suspected contaminated food have been submitted to the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) for laboratory analysis.

The students received intensive treatment and were later discharged after recovering. Bengkulu City Health Office head Nelli Hartati said authorities coordinated with the program’s kitchen, known as the Nutrition Service Fulfillment Unit, and recalled meal packages distributed to 10 other schools. Suspected contaminated samples were sent to the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency for laboratory analysis.

Iqbal Ramadan, the regional coordinator for the Bengkulu province service units, said operations had been temporarily suspended while officials evaluated the system and awaited the laboratory results. “We monitored the situation on the ground and coordinated with the Health Office regarding the seven affected students. Thankfully, they have all been discharged home, and samples from the MBG packages have been delivered to BPOM for testing. We are awaiting the laboratory results to determine the cause and we are evaluating our SPPG operations,” he said.

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We monitored the situation on the ground and coordinated with the Health Office regarding the seven affected students. Thankfully, they have all been discharged home, and samples from the MBG packages have been delivered to BPOM for testing. We are awaiting the laboratory results to determine the cause and we are evaluating our SPPG operations.