South China Morning Post
· collected 2026-09-09 · by Resty Woro Yuniar
In three days last week, close to 2,000 students in Indonesia fell ill after eating meals from a flagship program called A, which is aimed at providing free meals to students. The illnesses were reported across Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi, with 200 students showing symptoms of food poisoning in Central Java's Rembang on Tuesday. Since the program's launch in January 2025, at least 43,000 children have suffered from food poisoning linked to it, according to data from the Network for Education Watch. The National Nutrition Agency has issued new safety protocols to prevent mass food poisoning, but incidents are still occurring, with Sudaryono attributing some cases to "deliberate negligence".
Written by the local model on 2026-09-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In Indonesia, despite new food safety rules for free meals, students are still falling ill. In the past week, over 2,000 students were affected by food poisoning after eating meals from Prabowo's flagship program, with reports coming in from Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi. One incident occurred on Tuesday in Rembang, Central Java, where 200 students of an Islamic school showed symptoms of food poisoning after eating meals from the program. Between September 1-3, a total of 1,961 students suffered from food poisoning across the country, many requiring medical treatment. The government's National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has been supervising the program since its launch in January 2025, which was supposed to provide free meals to children. However, despite issuing new safety protocols last month, the agency's head, Sudaryono, blamed "deliberate negligence" for the latest incident. The program has already seen over 43,000 children suffer from food poisoning linked to it by the end of August.
Written for “Indonesian Food Safety Rules” on 2026-09-09,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
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stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning score -0.35 for article 7334 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-09-09
Indonesia has new food safety rules for free meals.
asserted
Indonesia → have → meals
Why are students still falling ill?
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students → fall → ?
In three days last week alone, close to 2,000 students suffered from food poisoning after eating meals from Prabowo’s flagship programme
A series of illnesses were reported in Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi in the past week.
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series → suffer → week
The latest was on Tuesday in Rembang, Central Java, where 200 students of an Islamic school showed symptoms of food poisoning such as vomiting and diarrhoea after eating meals from the programme.
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students → show → programme
Between September 1 and 3, a total of 1,961 students suffered from food poisoning across the country, many requiring medical treatment.
asserted
many → suffer → treatment
In the case in East Java’s Sidoarjo on Thursday, at least 730 students of Manbaul Hikam Islamic boarding school fell ill after lunch.
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students → fall → lunch
Sudaryono, head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), which supervises Prabowo’s initiative, chalked up the incident to “deliberate negligence”.
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which → supervise → negligence
Last month, BGN issued new safety protocols to prevent mass food poisoning – a recurring problem since the US$15.2 billion programme was launched in January 2025.
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programme → issue → January
At least 43,000 children had suffered from food poisoning linked to the programme by the end of August, according to data from the Network for Education Watch.
uncertain
children → suffer → Watch
