About 2,000 students and teachers in Indonesia fall ill after state school meals
Incidents in Central Java and East Java saw hundreds fall ill after meals from the government free-school-food programme.
About 2,000 students and teachers in Indonesia reported symptoms of food poisoning over the past three days after eating meals provided through the state free school feeding programme.
The most recent incident affected 777 pupils and staff who fell ill after a Wednesday meal at a senior high school in Lasem, Central Java. Most developed diarrhoea, which caused problems in the school’s toilets and led to the suspension of classes. Nearly 1,200 students and 95 members of staff were sent home, and several people were taken to hospital.
The school principal said the state will cover treatment costs and that the local food distributor visited the school to accept responsibility.
Authorities collect samples and investigate
A separate suspected mass-poisoning occurred a day earlier, when 730 people became ill after consuming meals supplied via the free food programme (MBG) at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, local health officials reported.
Local authorities are investigating the causes and have sent food samples for laboratory analysis to determine whether contamination occurred.
The director of Indonesia’s National Food Agency warned that if negligence or elements of a criminal offence are found, those responsible will face consequences.
Photo: SMANELA / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
