October 1, 2025 | 04:51 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin revealed his ministry's findings on the causes of the food poisoning outbreak affecting thousands of people who consumed free nutritious meals (MBG). Medically, the causes of this poisoning are categorized into three types: bacterial, viral, and chemical.
Budi Gunadi said that the Ministry of Health has investigated all MBG kitchens, also known as food fulfillment service units (SPPGs), where cases of food poisoning were reported. "The causes, medically, there are some bacteria, there are several viruses, and chemicals," Budi said during a working meeting with the House of Representatives Commission IX, at the DPR complex, Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday, October 1, 2025.
According to Budi, tracking the medical causes of food poisoning is crucial. Identifying the cause can help determine the appropriate treatment for victims. "This will determine the treatment if they are affected," said Budi.
Furthermore, these medical findings can help trace the source or the reasons for the poisoning. "Because each bacterium and virus has a different appearance," he said.
Therefore, he continued, health laboratories in each regency/city must be ready to conduct microbiological and toxicological research. Microbiological research focuses on bacteria and viruses, while toxicological research focuses on chemicals.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the best method for microbiological research. "Because it immediately shows the type of bacteria and what pathogens there are, this reagent is prepared for us to be able to detect bacteria and viruses, because this is the most common occurrence," said Budi.
The Ministry of Health identified eight bacteria causing MBG poisoning based on the data presented. The bacteria are Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter jejuni, and Shigella.
Furthermore, the Ministry found two viruses: norovirus/rotavirus and the hepatitis A virus. The cause of poisoning from chemicals is nitrite and scombrotoxin (histamine).
The National Nutrition Body (BGN) recorded 6,517 beneficiaries of MBG who suffered from poisoning. This data was recorded from January 1, 2025, to September 30, 2025, during the MBG project. BGN mapped cases of MBG poisoning in three regions: Region I, which covers Sumatra; Region II, which covers Java; and Region III, which covers eastern Indonesia.
The head of BGN, Dadan Hindayana, stated that the number of poisoning cases in region I was recorded at 1,307 people. In a presentation shown during the meeting, BGN noted 4,147 victims in region II. "Region II has increased, no longer 4,147, added with Garut, maybe 60 people, then region III, there are 1,003 people," Dadan said in the same working meeting.
He mentioned that the findings of poisoning cases had increased in the last two months. Dadan said there are MBG kitchens that do not meet the prescribed operational standards.
"We can see that the cases have increased in the last two months, and this is related to various issues, and we can identify that the incidents, on average, occurred because the stipulated SOPs were not strictly adhered to," said Dadan.
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