Dede Leni Mardianti, Jakarta – Indonesia's National Nutrition Body (BGN) stated that they will involve civil society in the investigation team for the free nutritious meal (MBG) poisoning case, which will be formed in the near future. BGN Vice Head Nanik S. Deyang mentioned that representatives from civil society will join the BGN team, which consists of health and pharmaceutical experts.
"We will involve community groups. Bismillah, we will do our best to provide nutritious food for children," she said in a written message on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
Nanik has not disclosed which elements of civil society they will recruit. She only mentioned that the civil society representatives will join the BGN investigation team, which includes health experts, chemists, and pharmaceutical experts.
According to Nanik, they cannot confirm when the investigation team will be announced. "The investigation team, in the process of forming the organization this week, although its official formation is not yet established, we are already working non-stop," she said.
In concept, the investigation team formed by BGN plans to go directly to the MBG poisoning site to expedite the investigation process, which has been carried out by the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) so far. They will investigate the kitchens suspected of causing a large-scale poisoning.
"We will also investigate the kitchens to see if they have followed the standard operational cooking procedures correctly," said Nanik.
Previously, Vice Chair of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission IX, Charles Honoris, proposed that BGN involve civil society in the membership of the MBG poisoning investigation team. Charles stated that the presence of civil society in the investigation team will provide a different perspective.
"We hope that this investigation team will involve civil society that can be objective and make assessments based on empirical facts," said Charles when met at the DPR complex in Jakarta on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.
Recently, cases of food poisoning from free nutritious meals have experienced a significant increase. Until September 2025, BGN recorded 4,711 poisoning victims, consisting of 45 cases.
– Dian Rahma Fika contributed to the writing of this article