Prabowo defends free meal program, cites 99.99 percent success rate

hartono · Oct 19, 2025

File photo - Students eat free nutritious meals provided by the government at an elementary school in Jakarta on January 6, 2025. (ANTARA FOTO/Rivan Awal Lingga/nz)

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto defended Indonesia's Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program on Saturday, saying it has achieved a 99.99 percent success rate despite a few cases of food poisoning.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the National University of the Republic of Indonesia (UKRI) in Bandung, West Java, he said 1.4 billion meal portions have been distributed nationwide, with around 8,000 cases of food poisoning reported.

"That's about 0.0007 or 0.0008 percent, which means the program has been 99.99 percent successful," Prabowo said.

He criticized what he described as disproportionate public reactions to isolated incidents, noting that the program's overall impact on millions of students has been overwhelmingly positive.

"So far, a few thousand children have suffered mild food poisoning, but what gets amplified is the poisoning issue — as if the entire program should be stopped," he said.

Prabowo reaffirmed his commitment to improving the MBG program's safety and quality to ensure it continues benefiting students across Indonesia.