More than 1,700 people suffer food poisoning from free school meals in Indonesia

More than 1,700 people in Indonesia have suffered food poisoning after consuming free school meals over the past three days, government officials and educational institutions said, according to Reuters, cited by Report.

At a senior high school in the city of Lasem, Central Java, 777 people - 752 students and 25 teachers - fell ill after consuming a free meal. In separate incidents in three other locations this week, 950 Indonesians suffered food poisoning. On Tuesday, 664 students fell ill in the city of Sidoarjo, East Java, according to local authorities. In two other incidents on Wednesday, 49 people were poisoned in the city of Nganjuk, East Java, and 237 people in Agam Regency, West Sumatra.

According to the agency, the number of people affected by food poisoning exceeded 1,700 over the three-day period. Indonesian parliamentarian Charles Honoris said that as of September 1, 50,000 cases of food poisoning had been recorded under the government program, calling it a "complete failure."

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto launched the $12.94 billion free meal program last year to improve the diets of tens of millions of children. However, those implementing the costly program have faced allegations of corruption and frequent leadership changes, which have contributed to incidents such as these.