Measures tightened

Amid mounting public pressure to suspend the program, the National Nutrition Agency tightened food safety protocols in October, introducing measures, including mandatory health certification for Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units.

Currently, only 32 percent of the 21,102 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units preparing meals for the program have received food safety certification, with the nutrition agency working to gradually increase that number.

In January, the National Nutrition Agency announced it would conduct accreditation and certification of all Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units nationwide starting this year to further improve food safety. The process will be carried out by an independent third party and will assess nutritional standards, hygiene and overall food safety. Incentives for certified kitchens or program partners will vary based on their audit performance.

The National Nutrition Agency's Dadan previously said the measures were part of the agency's efforts to eliminate food poisoning incidents entirely this year.

Despite the ongoing criticism over food safety, Prabowo has continued to defend the free meal initiative.

"If we compare the number of students affected by food poisoning to the total meals delivered, the rate is only 0.008 percent. That means 99.99 percent of the program has been successful," he said in early February, as quoted by Detik.com.

Prabowo said the program currently provides meals to around 60 million students daily, and the government aims to expand it to 82 million students by end of the year.

THE JAKARTA POST, INDONESIA