Nigeria TV Info – Over 800 Indonesian Students Fall Ill in School Meal Food Poisoning Outbreak

More than 800 students in Indonesia have been struck by mass food poisoning this week in two separate incidents linked to the government’s free school meals programme, officials confirmed on Friday.

The worst-hit area was West Java’s Garut region, where 569 students from five schools experienced nausea and vomiting on Wednesday after eating chicken and rice meals. According to Nurdin Yana, secretary of the Garut regional government, about 30 students were hospitalised, while hundreds were treated at home. Ten students remained in hospital as of Friday.

In response, local authorities pledged tighter supervision of kitchens providing the meals and announced a temporary switch to safer menu options such as bread, milk, boiled eggs, and fruit. However, officials emphasised that the school feeding programme itself would continue.

A second outbreak was reported in the Banggai Islands of Central Sulawesi, where 277 students fell ill on Wednesday. The National Nutrition Agency, which oversees the programme, said meal distribution in the affected region has been temporarily suspended.