Makan Bergizi Gratis: Indonesia’s Newest Culinary Trend, Now With Extra Bacteria

The government’s Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG) — Indonesia’s free school meal program — has turned lunchtime into a game of microbial roulette. In the week of 22 September 2025, over 800 students fell ill after eating MBG meals contaminated with E. coli and salmonella. The total now exceeds 4,000 poisoned students since the program’s January launch.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}
The government apologized. A rare move. But according to Indonesia Last Week, the apology was misplaced. The real issue, they argued, was not the food poisoning. It was the younger generation’s sense of entitlement. Students today expect edible food. In the past, elite international school students endured non-nutritious meals like spaghetti bolognaise and chicken steak. Today’s children get maggots, crickets, and fly eggs.^[6][7]
The program is free. The name says so, and the government has not sent an invoice. Reports also indicate the MBG initiative manages resources efficiently. It may have even eliminated the need for electricity.^[8][9]

MBG also exposes children to haram materials.
The program’s defenders might call these teething problems. When ambulances and IV drips are involved, teething is not the right word.
Still, MBG has made the school lunch a national conversation. Students across the archipelago compare symptoms.
By outsourcing preparation to the fastest available kitchen, the program has saved money. Safety and quality control are luxuries.
Four thousand students hospitalized. The meals are still free. Selamat makan.

What has happened since

The pattern did not stop at 800 students, or even 4,000. Independent monitoring by JPPI (Jaringan Pemantau Pendidikan Indonesia, an education-monitoring network) put cumulative MBG poisoning cases at 33,626 students across 31 provinces between the program’s 2025 launch and early April 2026.^[10] The single worst episode came on 28-29 January 2026 at SMAN 2 Kudus, where about 600 of the school’s 1,178 students fell ill and 118 were hospitalized; testing by BGN (Badan Gizi Nasional, the National Nutrition Agency) traced the outbreak to E. coli in the soto broth and sambal, and the supplying kitchen was suspended.^[11] Isolated incidents kept recurring, including 72 students across four schools sickened by MBG spaghetti in Pondok Kelapa, East Jakarta, in early April 2026.^[12] The apology cycle eventually met consequences: on 3 June 2026, the Attorney General’s Office detained former BGN chief Dadan Hindayana and two former deputies as corruption suspects, alleging budget markups and procurement steered to affiliated foundations across the program’s multi-trillion-rupiah budget.^[13] The food-safety story and the graft story have since merged.