Key facts
- At least 57,000 recipients contracted food poisoning as of September.
- The current food poisoning rate is 3.6 per million servings.
- The agency plans to monitor CCTV footage from 27,000 kitchens to improve supervision and hygiene.
The head of Indonesia's Nutrition Agency, Sudaryono, stated on Thursday that the agency urgently needs to prevent food poisoning among recipients of its free meals program. The scheme, a key promise of President Prabowo Subianto launched in January 2025, has been marred by food poisoning incidents and corruption allegations. As of September, at least 57,000 recipients had contracted food poisoning, with the current rate at 3.6 per million servings, significantly higher than in the US and Japan.