January 13, 2026 | 08:39 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A total of 50 people have been confirmed to have been poisoned after consuming free nutritious meals (MBG) in Majene Regency, West Sulawesi. Based on data from the monitoring Team of the West Sulawesi Provincial Health Office, currently 40 people are receiving treatment at the local community health centers (puskesmas).
"None were referred (to a hospital), one has returned home or recovered, and nine are being treated at home," the team wrote on Tuesday, January 13, 2026.
"This is the updated data at 04:00 p.m. local time," said the public relations of Majene Community Health Center when contacted via WhatsApp.
The local monitoring team and health office stated that the majority of the victims were toddlers. It is yet to be confirmed whether there are any pregnant women among the 50 poisoned victims. "We are still validating the data," it said.
Tempo has requested a response from the Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana; Deputy Head of BGN, Nanik Sudaryati Deyang; and BGN spokesperson Hanibal Wijayanta regarding the case. But it remained unanswered as of the writing of this article.
The monitoring team and health office have also taken samples from the vomit and the food previously consumed by the victims. According to the data collected by the monitoring team, the victims had consumed white rice, shredded chicken, noodles with sweet soy sauce, vegetable soup, yellow tofu, and watermelon.
The food samples were taken at the Sample Bank of the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) in Majene Tubo Sendana Onang, Majene, by the environmental health officers of the Majene Health Office. Laboratory tests for the samples were conducted on January 13, 2026.
The health office conveyed the symptoms experienced by the victims, such as stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever, and poor turgor. The preliminary suspicion is that the food poisoning originated from the MBG distributed by SPPG Majene Tubo Sendana Onang, the Creative Jaya Perdana Foundation, which was distributed in schools and integrated health posts (posyandu).
The local health office has not yet decided whether this case will be classified as an extraordinary event or not. Currently, they are still conducting an epidemiological investigation to determine the spread of the case and the source of the poisoning while awaiting the laboratory results from the Mamuju Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM).
Read: Prabowo: 58 Million Free Meal Beneficiaries Equal 9 Times Singapore's Population
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