Prabowo Orders MBG Program Kitchens Mandatory Test Kits Before Presenting Menu To School

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto ordered free nutritious dining kitchens (MBG) managed by nutritional fulfillment service units (SPPG) to have test kits to test the food they produce before being distributed to schools, children under five, and pregnant women.

The existence of the test kit is part of the standard operating procedure (SOP) which must be followed by all SPPGs to prevent repeated poisoning cases.

"So, brothers, we are proud of 30 million (recipients), we are worried that there are still (causing cases of poisoning), that's why we arrange all SPPGs, all MBG kitchens. We have made SOPs, all tools must be washed using modern tools, and it is not too expensive to clean, to kill all bacteria. We also order all kitchens to have test kits, test kits, before distribution must be tested all, and other preventive steps," said President Prabowo during a speech at a deliberation event. one of the political parties in Jakarta, Monday.

President Prabowo then announced that as of today the number of recipients of free nutritious food has reached 30 million people, consisting of school children, children under five, and pregnant women.

"We understand 30 million achievements, but remember our target is still far away, our target is 82 million beneficiaries. 30 million, we can be proud, but as the President I am still very sad because there are still 50 million children and pregnant women waiting. However, we cannot force it to be faster. Now, there could be irregularities. Imagine if we forced it as soon as possible deviations or deficiencies could occur more than that," said the President.

The deviation referred to by the President refers to violations of SOPs committed by a number of SPPGs, causing dozens of cases of poisoning to have an impact on more than 5,000 MBG recipients, especially in the period January 2025 to September 2025. Free nutritious meals, which are President Prabowo's priority programs launched on January 6, 2025, and the number of MBG recipients is targeted to reach 82.9 million by the end of 2025.

On a separate occasion, the National Nutrition Agency last week announced that during the period January to September 2025, there were 70 food safety incidents, including poisoning incidents, and 5,914 MBG recipients were also affected.

Of the 70 cases, nine cases with 1,307 victims were found in the Sumatra I region, including in Lebong, Bengkulu, and Bandar Lampung City, Lampung. Then, in the second region of Java Island, there were 41 cases with 3,610 MBG recipients affected, and in the third region in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, Papua, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara there were 20 cases with 997 MBG recipients affected.

Of the 70 cases of poisoning, the main cause is the content of several types of bacteria found, namely e-coli in water, rice, tofu, and chicken. Then, staphylococcus aureus in tempeh and meatballs, salmonella in chicken, eggs, and vegetables, bacillus cereus in the noodle menu, and coliform, PB, klebsiella, proteus from contaminated water.