Viral Video of Maggot-Infested Dates in Free Nutritious Meal Programme at Mataram Junior School Prompts Education Agency Response

A video clip showing maggot-infested dates in the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) menu at a junior secondary school in Mataram city has gone viral on social media. The 24-second recording shows multiple date pits split open and filled with small maggots, triggering immediate public reaction online.

Yusuf, head of Mataram City’s Education Agency (Disdik), stated that he had not yet received an official report regarding the maggot-infested dates. “There’s been no report to me about dates containing maggots,” he said when contacted on Thursday (26 February 2026). He noted that whilst no specific report had been filed about contaminated MBG menus, one or two informal reports had come in and he had telephoned the school principal regarding the matter.

Yusuf urged the Nutritional Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG) responsible for the substandard meals to coordinate immediately with the Health Agency and the Food and Drug Authority (BPOM). “We hope the SPPG will coordinate with related agencies such as the Health Agency and BPOM, which hold responsibility for food safety. The Education Agency merely provides students and schools as distribution points for MBG. We hope school principals will promptly submit findings to Mataram’s Education Agency,” he stated. He called on the public to report any substandard MBG menus, warning that repeatedly non-compliant providers should be shut down.

Yusuf also mentioned a previous complaint about stale pudding served at an elementary school in Cakranegara, which had been reported to the Ombudsman on grounds of administrative misconduct, with a decision pending.

Meanwhile, Nyayu Ernawati, secretary of Commission IV at Mataram City’s regional parliament (DPRD), called on MBG kitchens to take children’s nutritional needs seriously, particularly during Ramadan. “The MBG kitchens should truly prioritise the nutritional needs of our children, which is the basis of this programme. They should treat our children as if they were their own; how would we feel if our own children received contaminated food?” she said. She stressed that food must be genuinely nutritious, not stale or otherwise compromised, noting that such incidents have become recurring. Ernawati insisted that SPPG providers failing to comply with regulations should be closed down to protect children’s health and uphold the government’s intent to provide nutritious meals.