Indonesian officials say government-supplied meals tested after more than 500 students fall ill

JAKARTA — More than 500 students in Indonesia’s East Java were hospitalised with food poisoning suspected to have been caused by state-supplied meals, regional officials said on Wednesday (Sept 2), as the government works to reform the agency overseeing its ambitious free-meals scheme.President Prabowo Subianto launched his multibillion-dollar programme last year to eradicate under-nutrition by giving free meals to tens of millions of children, but the scheme has suffered from controversies such as food poisoning, corruption allegations, leadership changes and a burdensome price tag.In East Java’s Sidoarjo region, more than 500 students fell ill on Tuesday, East Java deputy governor Emil Dardak told news channel Kompas TV. He said the National Nutrition Agency, which oversees the free-meals programme, was looking into whether the cause was the lunch the students had eaten.Subandi, the head of the local government in Sidoarjo, said most of the 516 students treated at hospital have been discharged. Subandi, who goes by one name, said police had taken samples from the meals as part of the investigation.

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