September 16, 2025 | 07:56 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, has addressed a controversial statement letter related to the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) from State Islamic Junior High School (MTsN) 2 Brebes. The letter asked parents to accept potential health risks, such as digestive issues, allergic reactions, or even food poisoning, and to waive their right to sue the school or program organizers if their child fell ill.
The letter, which also allowed parents to either accept or reject the free meals, was uploaded by the social media account @ube***** on platform X on Monday, September 15, 2025. The post quickly went viral, with the user writing, "This is in Brebes, folks. The state's goal is to protect all Indonesians. Here, parents are asked to bear the risk of consuming MBG."
Dadan explained that the school and the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit had since held a mediation session. As a result, MTsN 2 Brebes withdrew the letter, clarifying that it was intended as a questionnaire to identify student allergies, not as a legal waiver. "The MTsN withdrew the questionnaire and explained to the parents that it was recalled and purely distributed related to students' allergies," Dadan stated in a message to Tempo on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
This incident comes amid growing concerns about the MBG program's safety. The Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) reported that 4,000 students were affected by food poisoning from the program in the last eight months. Indef official Izzudin urged the government to halt the program temporarily for a full evaluation before expanding it.
"The victims of poisoning cannot be considered mere statistical figures. This shows the weakness in planning and supervising the program," Izzudin said during an online discussion on Thursday, September 4, 2025.
The MBG program is set to receive significant funding in the Draft State Budget (RAPBN) 2026, with a primary allocation of Rp268 trillion and a reserve of Rp67 trillion, totaling Rp335 trillion for the National Nutrition Agency.
Editor's Choice: INDEF Warns Rp335 Trillion MBG Budget Could Strain Fiscal Capacity
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