Antara, Jakarta – The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) claims to be empowering more than one million workers through the free nutritious meal program (MBG). The agency also said it continues to adjust the program's beneficiary targets to improve its quality.

BGN Head Sudaryono emphasized that by the end of October 2026, BGN had successfully verified 26,723 of the total 27,485 MBG kitchens.

"This program has reached more than 58 million beneficiaries and involved approximately 1.03 million workers and more than 80,000 local suppliers from the MSME sector," he said on Monday.

However, Sudaryono emphasized that food safety remains a priority and cannot be compromised amidst the program's massive expansion.

"Food safety is a priority. Even one child suffering is one too many," he said. The free nutritious meal program has been marred by multiple cases of food poisoning, which made hundreds of children fall ill after consuming free lunches.

BGN also highlighted the program's achievements since its launch on January 6, 2025, when only around 700 workers were employed to manage approximately 27,000 kitchens with minimal infrastructure.

This situation prompted BGN to tighten its daily operational oversight. In addition to closing thousands of unfit kitchens, BGN also implemented strict sanctions, including the suspension of disbursement of funds to kitchens that failed to transparently report daily budget usage.

Sudaryono also discussed the MBG 2.0 transformation, which ensures that the expansion of the program must go hand in hand with improvements in the governance, from kitchen cleanliness to the food quality.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2122839/over-one-million-employed-for-free-meal-program-bgn-claim