In Indonesia, more than 1,000 children were poisoned this week after eating free school lunches. This is the latest in a series of poisonings linked to the president's food program. This was reported by the BBC, writes UNN.
Details
From Monday to Wednesday this week, 1,171 children complained of deteriorating health, said the head of the Sipongkor Public Health Center in West Java. And last week, another 800 students were poisoned.
Schools in Indonesia are currently implementing a feeding program designed to provide food for 80 million students. But due to cases of poisoning, non-governmental organizations have called on the authorities to suspend it. However, the government is not going to do so yet.
The affected children complained of abdominal pain, nausea, dizziness, and shortness of breath – a symptom quite atypical for poisoning.
Preliminary investigation data indicate that the cause of the health deterioration could have been negligent food preparation. This week, students were served chicken, fried tofu, vegetables, and fruits. Previous poisonings were linked to expired sauce, and in one case – to a shark dish.
The National Narcotics Agency (BGN) reported that from January to September 22, 4,711 cases of poisoning from free school lunches were registered. Most cases occurred on the island of Java.
However, the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) reported a higher figure. This non-governmental organization recorded that as of September 21, the number of poisoning victims had risen to 6,452 children.
This anomalous situation should require the government to declare an outbreak and temporarily suspend the program for thorough evaluation
Addition
Indonesia has a population of over 283 million, and according to a national survey conducted in 2024, less than 1% of Indonesian households spent at least one day without food in the past year. The president decided to implement a multi-billion dollar food program to provide all schoolchildren with free food.
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