Hundreds hit by food poisoning after eating free school meals in Indonesia

President Prabowo Subianto's flagship free meals programme has been marred by mass food poisoning cases

A student eating during President Prabowo Subianto's ambitious free meal program (AP)

More than 360 people in the Indonesian town of Sragen in Central Java have fallen ill after consuming school lunches, in what is the largest food poisoning case to hit President Prabowo Subianto's flagship free meals programme.

Since its January launch, more than 1000 people have been affected by food poisoning across the archipelago.

Sragen government chief Sigit Pamungkas said 365 people fell ill, and a food sample was now being tested in a lab. He added the government would pay for any medical treatment if needed.

Wizdan Ridho Abimanyu, a ninth grader at Gemolong 1 Middle School said he was woken at night by sharp pain in his stomach.

He had a headache and diarrhoea, which he deduced had been caused by food poisoning after seeing schoolmates' social media posts complaining of the same.

The free meals programme has been rapidly expanded to over 15 million recipients so far (AP)

The likely contaminated lunch was turmeric rice, omelette ribbons, fried tempeh, cucumber and lettuce salad, sliced apple and a box of milk, cooked in a central kitchen and distributed to several schools.

"We have asked to temporarily stop the food distribution from that kitchen until the lab results are back," Sigit said.

Symptoms of food poisoning

NHS

Symptoms of food poisoning include:

• feeling sick or being sick
• diarrhoea
• stomach pain
• a high temperature
• feeling generally unwell

The government's National Nutrition Agency, which oversees the programme, has raised the standards of kitchen operations and delivery in the aftermath of previous food poisoning cases, its chief Dadan Hindayana told Reuters.

The free meals programme has been rapidly expanded to over 15 million recipients so far. Authorities plan to reach 83 million by year-end, budgeting a total cost of 171 trillion rupiah ($10.62 billion) this year.

In a food poisoning case in a city in West Java in May, more than 200 students fell ill, and a lab found the food was contaminated with Salmonella and E. coli bacteria, according to media reports.