Antara News·Indonesia·Thursday, October 29, 2026 at 09:08 AM UTC

Indonesia shuts down over 2,000 Free Meal kitchens over hygiene issues

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Lintang Budiyanti, Kuntum Khaira

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has permanently shut down more than 2,000 kitchens operating under the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program for failing to meet hygiene and sanitation requirements.

BGN Head Sudaryono said on Thursday that kitchens operating without a Hygiene and Sanitation Eligibility Certificate (SLHS) were among those ordered to close.

“We have shut down kitchens that do not have an SLHS. In fact, we have permanently closed more than 2,000 kitchens over hygiene and sanitation issues,” Sudaryono told reporters in Jakarta.

The closures come as authorities seek to address weaknesses in program oversight, including inconsistent standards for kitchen facilities, staffing, food procurement, and service delivery.

Sudaryono cited findings in Karo District, North Sumatra, where fish that could not fit in refrigerators had been left at room temperature for more than 12 hours before being cooked.

In Cirebon, West Java, a kitchen had purchased pre-cooked, peeled quail eggs, making it difficult to verify whether they had been handled hygienically, he said.

In Bogor, West Java, inspectors found that a free meals kitchen was using ready-made peanut sauce for satay despite established standard operating procedures.

BGN has also tightened financial oversight by requiring kitchen operators to submit daily expenditure reports before receiving additional operational funding, Sudaryono said.

Of the 26,385 MBG kitchens currently operating, around 6,100 had yet to submit their daily expenditure reports, he said. BGN would withhold additional funding and temporarily suspend the operations of those kitchens pending inspections by its inspectorate.

Sudaryono stressed that violations potentially involving criminal offenses would be pursued in coordination with law enforcement authorities.

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