BGN Permanently Closes 504 Free Nutritious Meal Kitchens Over Sanitation Concerns

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has permanently closed 504 kitchens serving the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme until 10 August 2026, as part of a commitment to tightening food safety standards in the national priority initiative. The Satuan Pelayanan Pemenuhan Gizi (SPPG) units were permanently shut down after being declared unfit in terms of sanitation, based on reports from local health agencies submitted through the Ministry of Health. “We have permanently closed 504 kitchens because they were declared unfit in terms of sanitation,” said BGN Head Sudaryono, familiarly known as Mas Dar, during a special coordination meeting with the Minister of Home Affairs and regional heads across Indonesia in Jakarta on Thursday. Mas Dar stated that approximately 3,000 other kitchens are currently undergoing inspection by respective regional health agencies. He stressed that the inspection process must not be accelerated at the expense of established standards, as food safety in the MBG programme directly concerns the well-being of beneficiaries, particularly children. “The remaining roughly 3,000 that have registered are now being checked by their respective health agencies. We are waiting, and if they are found unfit, then I am sorry, but this is a matter of someone’s life, the lives of our children, and we cannot compromise on that,” he said. He expressed appreciation for the regional governments’ assistance in supervising and handling MBG food safety issues and reiterated the agency’s principle of zero tolerance towards any future poisoning cases.