TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) Taruna Ikrar stated that the agency is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the free nutritious meals program. This monitoring is intended to prevent mass poisoning.
"There are 13 areas of responsibility related to free nutritious meals assigned to us. This is a direct order from President Prabowo Subianto. One of them is supervision to prevent extraordinary incidents," said Taruna Ikrar at the Cakung Community Health Center, East Jakarta, on Friday, May 2, 2025.
However, in some areas, Taruna Ikrar admitted that poisoning incidents still occur. Therefore, he requested community health centers in related areas to participate in mitigating the implementation of this program. He also requested their coordination with larger institutions to enhance supervision.
Actually, Taruna Ikrar claimed that BPOM has experience in mitigating and resolving extraordinary incidents related to food or food safety. "We are very experienced in the food system, but we have limited manpower. With cooperation, I believe we can improve that," said this cardiac specialist.
Alleged food poisoning cases in the free nutritious meals program have emerged in various regions. At least four areas have reported similar incidents since the program started in early 2025.
The latest case occurred in Bombana Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, precisely at SDN 33 Kasipute on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. Dozens of students vomited after smelling a fishy odor from the free nutritious meal package containing rice, chicken karaage, fried tofu, and vegetable soup. The headmaster of the school, Santi Jamal, mentioned that the unpleasant odor was from the stale crispy chicken. The police confirmed that there were 53 out of 1,026 food packages that were not fresh.
The Head of the National Nutrition Agency, Dadan Hindayana, stated that they will implement standard operating procedures to prevent poisoning cases from reoccurring. For example, by returning leftover food to the Nutrition Supply Service Unit kitchen for easier laboratory testing. "Because for laboratory testing, samples of the food in the kitchen must be compared with those already delivered to the school," said Dadan when met at the Haji Pondok Gede Jakarta dormitory on Thursday, April 24, 2025.
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