PCO Spokesperson: No Nutritious Food Menu Standards, There Are Nutrition Standards

Spokesperson for the Presidential Communication Office (PCO) Dedek Prayudi/ANTARA/HO-M Riezko Bima Elko Prasetyo.

Spokesperson for the Presidential Communication Office (PCO) Dedek Prayudi said there was no standard menu for free nutritious food (MBG) that had begun to be given to school children and pregnant women in various parts of Indonesia.

At the Barunawati Junior High School complex, Jakarta, Dedek explained that the standards used for free nutritious food are nutritional standards, hygienic standards, and sustainable waste management standards.

"There is no menu standard. This means that there is no mandatory (constitution) for milk. It is mandatory for meat, it does not exist," said Dedek, Monday, January 6.

In this activity, a number of journalists asked about the absence of milk in the nutritious food packages received by school children at Barunawati Junior High School today.

Related to this, Dedek explained that there were other foods provided, and the nutritional content was the same as milk in the portion of free nutritious food that children received.

He explained that children who receive a portion of free nutritious food also do not always receive rice. Dedek said the rice menu can be replaced with potatoes, considering that both of them are part of carbohydrates.

Our brothers and sisters in Papua fulfill their carbohydrates with sago. So, here there is no menu standard. Once again, what exists is nutritional standards, standards for hygiene, as well as standards for governance of sustainable waste," said Dedek Prayudi.

Eating free nutrition, which is a priority program for the government of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, was officially implemented today in schools and posyandu in 26 provinces.

There are around 190 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) or MBG Kitchens that operate to provide nutritious food for school children and pregnant women starting today.

The MBG kitchens are spread across 26 provinces, namely Aceh, Bali, West Sumatra, North Sumatra, Riau Islands, Riau, Lampung, Banten, West Java, Jakarta, Central Java, East Java, Yogyakarta, Gorontalo.

Then, there are also MBG kitchens in West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Maluku, North Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Papua, and South Papua.

The MBG kitchen operations are led by a head of the SPPG who was appointed directly by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). The head of this SPPG cooperates with a nutritionist and an accountant to ensure smooth distribution of food and closely monitor the quality of food and nutrition standards distributed to children and pregnant women.