Over 1,000 Indonesians sick from school meals in more food poisoning outbreaks

Muhammad Setiawan Pratama, 11, an elementary student receives treatment for food poisoning after eating government-sponsored free school meals, at a makeshift clinic inside a district's hall in Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia, September 25, 2025. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Bandung, INDONESIA (Reuters) -More than 1,000 children in Indonesia's West Java have suffered food poisoning this week from school lunches, authorities said, the latest in a series of outbreaks and another setback for the president's multi-billion-dollar free meals programme.

The mass poisoning was reported in four areas of West Java province, its Governor Dedi Mulyadi told Reuters on Thursday, which came as non-governmental organisations issued calls to suspend the programme due to health concerns.