Despite the continuous increase in food poisoning incidents caused by free nutritious meals in Jakarta, Indonesian President Prabowo insists that the free nutritious meal program will not be interrupted and has ordered strengthened regulatory efforts while dispatching nutrition experts to assist in ensuring food safety.
Prabowo defended this flagship program on Monday, September 29th. He said, "When we count all the meals distributed, the rate of errors, defects, or mistakes is only 0.00017%
He said that the National Nutrition Administration and relevant departments responsible for this plan will work together to find a solution. This is a huge plan, and there will definitely be shortcomings at the beginning, but I am confident that we will solve these problems properly
He also warned not to politicize the food poisoning incident in order to undermine this plan. The purpose of the free meal plan is to help children, and many people still struggle to access food. Perhaps we can eat well, but (they) can only eat rice with salt
At the cabinet meeting held last weekend, Prabowo issued multiple instructions regarding the free meal plan, including that all relevant units must hire well-trained chefs, equip with rapid detection equipment, install dish disinfectors and water purifiers, and equip with a closed-circuit television monitoring system connected to the central government.
Indonesian Health Minister Boudi said that many poisoning incidents have occurred in newly established national kitchens, and the staff lack experience; Other reasons include poor food quality, unsafe drinking water, and violation of standard operating procedures.
He said that the government will accelerate the standardization process of the free nutritious meal program, ensuring that every relevant unit must hold hygiene and environmental hygiene certifications.
Budi emphasized that certification alone is not enough, and stricter regulation will cover the entire food processing chain, from ingredient procurement, cooking to plating. We have agreed to work together to prevent a recurrence of food poisoning incidents
The National Nutrition Administration revealed last week that out of 9000 national kitchens participating in the program, 40 have been ordered to close due to non-compliance with standards.
The free nutritious meal program was launched in January this year and has benefited about 31 million students, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers. However, food poisoning incidents have repeatedly occurred, causing high social concern.
Ubed, the national coordinator of the Indonesian Education Supervision Network, criticized the measures taken by the government as a "very slow and misguided solution". The problem of free nutritious meals is not only about food poisoning, but also about potential corruption, inadequate accountability, and opaque management in the budget for each meal. The government should comprehensively shut down the national kitchen for evaluation
According to the Jakarta Globe and Jakarta Post, the National Nutrition Agency reported that there were 70 food poisoning incidents from January to September 25th this year, affecting 5914 people. The Indonesian Education Supervision Network recorded that as of Sunday (28th), 8649 children had symptoms of food poisoning. Glass shards were even found during a nutritious meal at a high school in Batam.
The food poisoning incident that occurred in West Kalimantan province last week has raised concerns about the safety of consuming shark meat.
Although the National Nutrition Administration states that shark meat is a traditional local ingredient, experts point out that shark meat contains methylmercury, which is one of the most dangerous toxins. Methylmercury is a compound formed from marine industrial pollutants that can accumulate in the human body.
Shark meat also contains harmful toxins such as mercury and arsenic, which can cause serious illnesses and even death.
Health expert Dede Nasrullah said, "The larger and older sharks are, the higher the accumulation of toxins in their bodies. Children must not be used as test subjects for this high-risk food. The government must strengthen food safety standards
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