By Sultan Abdurrahman
Copyright tempo
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan stated that the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program is a basic right for people. Zulkifli made the statement during a government press conference to address the cases of MBG poisoning that have occurred in the nine months of its implementation.”MBG is the basic right of people to fulfill adequate nutritional intake for future generations to become superior,” said Zulkifli at the Ministry of Health office in Jakarta on Thursday, October 2, 2025.Zulkifli mentioned that the government will make efforts to ensure the MBG program, which is President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship program, runs safely. However, he stated that the program faces various challenges.According to him, the MBG program targets fundamental issues. Moreover, its scope of implementation is also extensive. “The challenges are not insignificant,” said the coordinating minister.In response to the cases of MBG poisoning, Zulkifli mentioned that the government will improve the management and supervision of the program. One way is through the issuance of regulations that codify standard operating procedures (SOPs) for managing MBG and reporting poisoning cases through Public Health Centers (Puskesmas).Zulkifli said Prabowo will sign regulations in the form of a presidential decree (Inpres) and a presidential regulation (Perpres) regarding MBG. The policy will serve as the legal basis for MBG management. “It is currently being perfected at the State Secretariat Ministry,” he said.He stated that Prabowo instructed him to continue the MBG program. “The president’s instructions are clear: improve the system, strengthen the overall management of MBG. Several developments and improvements have been made,” said Zulhas.From the beginning until the end of September 2025, the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network recorded approximately 6,452 cases of food poisoning from the MBG menu. Meanwhile, according to data collected by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), the Ministry of Health, and the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM), the total number of victims since the program began in early January 2025 is around 5,000 people.Cases of MBG poisoning have increased in the last two months. The organizer of the program, Head of the BGN Dadan Hindayana, emphasized that the government will improve the management of MBG as best as possible. “So what the government provides is safe to consume,” said Dadan at the MPR/DPR building on Wednesday, October 1, 2025.The government remains steadfast in continuing the free nutritious meal project despite the strong demands to stop the program after massive poisoning incidents. According to Dadan, MBG is intended for children who require nutritional intervention.Dadan emphasized that the government’s intervention is carried out through the provision of nutritious meal menus. “Many children actually need nutritional intervention with a balanced menu. So, I think we must provide this right,” said Dadan.Ervana Trikarinaputri contributed to the writing of this articleEditor’s Choice: BGN Denies Link Between Student’s Death and Free Meal ProgramClick here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
