Overview

• The National Nutrition Agency counts more than 5,900 poisoning cases across at least 70 incidents since January, including a major spike in West Bandung that sent over 1,000 children for treatment.
• Officials say 56 production kitchens have been suspended as investigations proceed, and a new regulation defining national and regional responsibilities is due within a week.
• New safeguards include rapid testing devices, tray sterilisers, water filters and CCTV for each kitchen, mandatory pre-distribution inspections in schools, and HACCP certification for all facilities.
• The programme expanded rapidly to nearly 10,000 kitchens serving about 30 to 31 million recipients, a scale-up officials acknowledge strained training, oversight and food-safety capacity.
• Civil society groups and affected families are urging a pause or cash alternatives, while authorities pledge to cover medical costs and cite causes such as inexperienced staff, poor ingredients, contaminated water and bacteria including E. coli and salmonella.