Raw Catfish on Free Nutritious Meal Menu; National Nutrition Agency Claims Already Marinated
Jakarta – The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has clarified the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme menu featuring raw catfish that was rejected by a school in Pamekasan Regency, East Java. The catfish was intentionally only marinated in order to remain edible for more than one day without reducing nutritional value.
BGN Deputy Head Nanik S Deyang stated that the agency had conducted an inspection of the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG) Pamekasan Pademawu Buddagan, which distributed the menu. According to her, based on field reports, the meal package prepared by SPPG actually consisted of several menu components, namely marinated catfish, fried tofu and tempe, pizza bread, boiled eggs, full-cream milk, and dragon fruit.
“Based on reports we received, the menu prepared by SPPG is actually complete. However, in the circulating video, only part of the menu is visible because the school refused to remove the meal package from the distribution vehicle,” she said in a statement on Tuesday (10 March 2026).
She claimed that every menu in the MBG programme is arranged with attention to nutritional balance and food safety standards. Therefore, each report or controversy in the field will be followed up through coordination and evaluation to ensure service to beneficiaries continues to run optimally.
“The MBG programme places food safety and nutritional quality as a top priority. We continuously conduct monitoring and evaluation to ensure the entire process from meal preparation to distribution runs according to established standards,” said Nanik.
Meanwhile, Nutrition Expert at SPPG Pamekasan Pademawu Buddagan, Fikri Kuttawakil, explained that the use of marinated catfish in the MBG menu has nutritional and food security considerations. According to him, marinated catfish was intentionally included in the menu to prevent nutritional loss and increase protein that day.
“When marinated, catfish can also last up to one day,” said Fikri.
Previously, a video circulated showing SMAN 2 Pamekasan refusing the three-day MBG allocation distributed to their school on Monday (9 October 2026). In the video, the menu rejected by the school was two pieces of tempe, two pieces of tofu, and one raw catfish.
“So today’s MBG at SMA 2 is not suitable for distribution to students and teachers,” said the school in the video.
The basis for the rejection was that the catfish included in the menu was still considered raw and was estimated to spoil within a few hours. As a result, the school refused to distribute the MBG menu to students for safety reasons.
“This is deeply regretted by the school because frankly it will become waste at the school because it will be thrown away by the children later,” the statement said.
The SPPG Pamekasan Pademawu Buddagan serves a total of 3,329 beneficiaries. The beneficiaries consist of high school/vocational school/Islamic school students, junior high school/Islamic junior high school students, early childhood/kindergarten students, special needs schools, educators, as well as groups of pregnant women, nursing mothers, and toddlers in the area.