Maretha Uli, Jakarta – The National Nutrition Agency (BGN), which oversees the government's free-meal program, has temporarily halted operations at more than 2,200 kitchens nationwide for failing to obtain mandatory hygiene certification, amid growing complaints about meal quality and safety, particularly during the fasting month of Ramadan.

The program has again drawn public criticism after clips showing meal packages containing raw marinated catfish circulated widely on social media.

A total of 1,022 meal packages, which also included uncooked tempeh and tofu, had been prepared for distribution to students at state senior high school SMAN 2 Pamekasan in East Java on Monday.

The packages, intended to cover three days of meals, were immediately rejected by the school's principal over concerns that they could endanger students' health.

"On Monday, the free-meal allocation meant to cover three days until Wednesday was rejected [...] I apologize to the kitchen that prepared the meals, but the school made this decision for the safety of the children," school principal Moh. Arifin told journalists on Tuesday.

BGN decided on Wednesday to temporarily suspend the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) Pamekasan Pademawu Buddagan.

The move came a day after BGN deputy head Nanik Sudaryati Deyang defended the kitchen, saying the circulating clips did not show the full menu, which also included bread, boiled eggs, milk and dragon fruit.

The kitchen's nutritionist, Fikri Kuttawakil, said that the menu had been designed with food durability in mind, claiming the marinated catfish "can last up to one day".

Reactive measures

Following repeated public calls for a comprehensive review of the flagship program of President Prabowo Subianto, particularly after the "catfish incident" and previous reports of mass food-poisoning cases elsewhere, BGN launched nationwide inspections of operational standards at participating kitchens.

Kitchens that fail to obtain mandatory hygiene and sanitation certificates are subject to suspension.

On Wednesday, BGN announced that it would suspend 717 kitchens across West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, West Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua, after they failed to register the required hygiene and sanitation certificates.

These provinces fall under Zone III, which covers eastern Indonesia and includes a total of 4,219 kitchens. About half of them have already obtained the certificates, while the rest are still in the process of securing them.

BGN Zone III monitoring and supervision director Rudi Setiawan said the certification was a key requirement to ensure cleanliness and food safety in the free-meal program.

"SPPGs that have not registered their hygiene and sanitation certificates will be temporarily suspended until the requirement is met," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, 1,512 kitchens across Java, classified as Zone II, were also suspended as part of an evaluation program aimed at ensuring compliance with operational standards, including hygiene certification and standardized wastewater treatment.

According to BGN data updated on Friday, Java has the highest number of kitchens, with more than 15,000 units, while Sumatra has more than 5,000 kitchens. However, as of Friday, BGN had yet to announce how many kitchens in Sumatra had been suspended.

Health risks

Epidemiologist Dicky Budiman of Australia's Griffith University warned that kitchens operating without proper hygiene and sanitation certification pose serious public health risks.

"The first risk is foodborne disease. Without proper sanitation verification, the potential for microbiological contamination increases significantly," he said.

He went on to say that there was also a risk of chemical and physical contamination if kitchen facilities failed to meet sanitation standards. This includes contamination from pesticide residues, heavy metals from cooking equipment, cleaning chemicals, as well as physical contaminants such as insects, larvae or metal fragments.

Dicky also warned that from an epidemiological perspective, the program carries what is known as a "high amplification risk", meaning a single sanitation failure could expose thousands of people at once.

"This is what makes it particularly dangerous," he said, adding that unsafe food, such as the raw catfish, could lead to food poisoning or infections caused by bacteria, parasites or acute gastrointestinal disorders.

"Incidents like this are what epidemiologists call a preventable food safety incident, events that should not happen if proper monitoring and oversight systems are in place," he concluded.

Source: https://asianews.network/raw-catfish-sparks-nationwide-shutdown-of-indonesias-free-meal-kitchens