Dio Suhenda, Jakarta – The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has introduced a new food safety protocol for the free nutritious meal program to ensure that food remains fresh as well as to bring the program's rollout closer to its "zero incidents' target, although concerns persist over its rapid scale-up to reach 82.9 million beneficiaries.
In less than 10 months, President Prabowo Subianto's flagship free meals program has expanded from serving just 3 million students at its launch in January to 37 million students, infants and pregnant women nationwide as of October.
But the reoccurrence of mass food poisoning among beneficiaries has amplified doubts over the program's breakneck expansion and prompted widespread calls for its suspension as the number of cases reached 13,000 earlier this month.
Amid the mounting scrutiny, BGN head Dadan Hindayana announced on Monday that a new food safety protocol to be implemented at the more than 12,500 catering services involved in the program, formally known as nutrition fulfillment service units (SPPG).
The new rules are based on a review of previous food poisoning cases and international best practices.
"We want to take steps that minimize major incidents," Dadan told a press conference that was broadcast live. "Our goal of zero incidents is what we are working toward."
The food safety protocol requires SPPG to employ certified cooks and includes a cap on the number of beneficiaries each unit serves. They will also be equipped with tools to test raw ingredients as well as finished meals, which Dadan said drew on Japan's experience with its school meals program, where "90 percent of incidents" were linked to contaminated raw materials.
Each SPPG is also required to sterilize food trays and prepare meals using only sterile water rather than tap water, since many food poisoning cases were traced to unclean water.
"We will also conduct routine training and technical guidance sessions for all SPPG heads and food handlers to ensure that they remain vigilant," Dadan said. "For new staff, the training will focus on skills improvement, while it will serve as a refresher for existing staff."
Last week, BGN deputy head Nanik Sudaryati Deyang said catering units were no longer allowed to start preparing meals before midnight the day prior to distribution.
At the earliest, SPPG may only start cooking at 2 a.m. on the day of distribution, a rule that aims to ensure the freshness of ingredients and to reduce the risk of spoilage.
Ambitious expansion
The new food safety protocol is to be included in a new presidential regulation (Perpres) on the free meals program, which is set to be issued alongside a new presidential decree (Keppres) mandating the formation of a coordination team to manage its rollout, headed by Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan.
"We have agreed [on the content] of the Perpres, which will cover not only the requirements for the program's proper implementation but also its oversight and governance," Zulkifli said on Tuesday following a meeting with the BGN, as quoted by state news agency Antara.
He underlined that having clear regulations was key to ensure the successful implementation of the free meals program.
"By March at the latest, we expect to see the program running smoothly. The 82.9 million target is nonnegotiable. It must be fully achieved," Zulkifli added.
BGN head Dadan has repeatedly vowed to reach 82.9 million total beneficiaries by the year-end.
Public health nutritionist Tan Shot Yen, however, expressed doubt that a Perpres outlining new food safety measures would be enough to ensure quality meals. Standards would fall short as long as the government prioritized program coverage over the nutritional value of each meal, she said on Wednesday.
Tan also pointed to the inclusion of ultra-processed foods, such as packaged peanuts with labels warning that they were not recommended for children, and criticized the program's "haphazard" implementation "without clear evaluation or oversight".
Even with the new regulations, she said, "it seems that the government is still sticking to its quantity-over-quality approach" with regard to the free meals program.