More than 1,700 Indonesian students and teachers sickened this week due to free meals programme

At least 777 students and teachers in Central Java suffered food poisoning after eating government-provided meals, bringing the number sickened by Indonesia's free meals programme this week to more than 1,700.

At a senior high school in Lasem, 752 students and 25 teachers developed diarrhoea and vomiting after eating grilled chicken on Wednesday. Principal Juhartutik said a food taster had found some of the chicken "slimy" before distribution. Those portions were set aside, she said, but the kitchen operator reported that the food had been cooked at 3 a.m. and eaten at noon. Most victims were sent home, while 15 students and teachers were hospitalised, local doctor Joko Paryanto said.

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slimy

Separate cases affected 664 students in Sidoarjo, 49 people in Nganjuk and 237 people in the West Sumatra region of Agam. Charles Honoris, a lawmaker on the parliamentary health commission, cited local health department data and said the incidents were not isolated. "This is a failure of the system," he wrote on Instagram.

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The slimy ones had already been set aside... The kitchen operator said the food was cooked at 3 a.m. and it was eaten at noon.

President Prabowo Subianto launched the multibillion-dollar programme last year to improve nutrition for tens of millions of children. The National Nutrition Agency, which oversees the $12.94 billion scheme, did not immediately respond to questions about the latest cases. It suspended the kitchen linked to the Sidoarjo outbreak.

Charles said health department data showed that 50,000 people had been affected by food poisoning cases as of Sept. 1. Improper storage and late delivery of cooked meals are often blamed. A July survey found that only one-third of respondents were satisfied with the programme, with food poisoning cited as a major reason.

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This is a failure of the system