Dede Leni Mardianti, Jakarta – Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) reported that at least 16,109 people have fallen ill from food poisoning linked to Indonesia's free nutritious meal program (MBG) between its launch on January 6 and October 31, 2025.
"This makes the MBG poisoning case the largest food-related tragedy in the education sector this year," JPPI Coordinator Ubaid Matraji said in an official statement on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
According to JPPI, the number of poisoning victims has surged sharply in recent months, from 2,226 cases in August to 6,052 in September and 6,823 in October.
Ubaid said the data shows that the government's evaluations and limited interventions by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) have done little to prevent recurring incidents.
"The BGN's move to partially shut down several kitchens has proven ineffective and failed to stop new outbreaks," he said, adding that what began as isolated poisonings among students has now spread to teachers, parents, toddlers, and pregnant women.
Ubaid also criticized the government for withholding the results of audits on MBG kitchens allegedly linked to the poisonings.
"To this day, despite thousands of victims, not a single person has been held accountable," he said.
JPPI has called on the government to temporarily suspend the MBG program and immediately form an independent, cross-agency investigative team that includes civil society representatives to probe both the poisoning incidents and alleged irregularities in program management.
"The tragedy of 16,000 victims cannot be normalized. This is not a mere accident but a consequence of systemic failure and poor governance," Ubaid said.