National Nutrition Agency Enforces 4-Hour Consumption Limit for Free Meals

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has officially implemented a new regulation regarding the consumption time limit for food in the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme. Starting today, MBG meals must be consumed within a maximum of four hours after cooking.

Head of BGN Sudaryono stated that the rule is marked by the enforcement of consumption time labels on MBG food packaging. This label serves as a reference for students and teachers to ensure the food is still fit for consumption.

‘BGN has enforced the provision of food labels that must be consumed, or eaten, within 4 hours after the food is cooked,’ Sudaryono said in a statement on Tuesday (11/8/2026).

Sudaryono urged students and teachers to check the stated consumption time before eating the MBG meals. If the food has passed the specified time limit, it should not be consumed.

‘We urge the students, the learners, and also request the teachers to check together before the MBG food is consumed, to check whether the consumption time is within the determined time,’ he said. ‘If it exceeds the determined time, we respectfully request that it not be consumed. I repeat, do not consume it if it has passed the time limit.’

In addition to limiting the consumption time, BGN also prohibits students from taking the MBG meals home. According to Sudaryono, the condition of the food after being taken home cannot be guaranteed, including its quality and potential spoilage.

‘We also urge the students, and request the teachers to inform the learners in their classes not to take the MBG menu home,’ Sudaryono said. ‘Because we do not know the quality or the damage of the food taken home, which could potentially cause poisoning for the students who consume it. In some poisoning cases we found, even parents who consumed the MBG at home also suffered from poisoning.’

Sudaryono stressed that BGN will continue to strengthen supervision of the MBG programme’s implementation. This is to ensure the food provided to students remains safe and meets nutritional standards.

‘Let us together maintain that MBG must be safe, MBG must be nutritious, and insyaallah we at the National Nutrition Agency will continue to improve service, supervision, monitoring and collaboration from all parties so that this programme runs well, with zero tolerance for poisoning cases,’ he concluded.