Suspected MBG Food Poisoning Causes Mass Diarrhea Among Dozens of Children in Bener, Purworejo

PURWOREJO, KOMPAS.com – Dozens of children in Guntur and Nglaris villages, Bener District, Purworejo Regency, Central Java, suffered from diarrhea and stomach pain after allegedly consuming food from the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program.

Several of the affected children received initial treatment with oral rehydration salts provided by the food supplier.

However, some residents still experienced dizziness and diarrhea as of Friday (18/9/2026).

Tri Indrayatno, head of RW 5 in Kalipancer Hamlet, Guntur Village, said the MBG meals were distributed to MI Guntur students, posyandu (integrated health service post) visitors, pregnant women, and toddlers on Thursday (17/9/2026).

Stomach pain and diarrhea

According to him, residents started reporting symptoms after eating the food. Subsequently, the posyandu officers contacted the kitchen to report the situation.

“The kitchen provided oral rehydration salts. After taking it, some recovered, but others still felt dizzy,” Tri said when contacted on Saturday (19/9/2026).

He noted that the complaints included diarrhea accompanied by stomach pain.

Based on information received, more than 20 children from MI and kindergarten in the village experienced diarrhea.

The exact number of elderly and pregnant women who received MBG meals remains unknown.

He also mentioned that residents in Nglaris Village reported similar symptoms.

One child from that village reportedly experienced repeated diarrhea from around midnight Friday until Saturday morning.

“Our resident’s son was even visited by a doctor from the MBG program. The diarrhea recurred until morning. In one household, three people had diarrhea,” he explained.

So far, no residents from his area have required hospitalization due to this incident.

However, some community members still buy medicine themselves at local shops since symptoms have not completely subsided.

MBG management must be more careful

Tri also said the MBG management has so far only provided medication to affected residents.

He hopes the MBG organizers will exercise more caution in preparing and distributing food to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

He plans to gather parents to discuss the future of MBG meal distribution in his area.

The meeting will serve as a platform for residents to share their experiences and decide on the next steps.

“We must be very careful. This must not happen again,” said Tri.

Wahyu Kurniawan, coordinator of SPPI Purworejo, stated that their team is currently handling the children who fell victim to the suspected poisoning.

“First, we are focusing on assisting the affected victims,” he said.

However, so far they have not been able to determine the total number of victims affected by the suspected poisoning. Wahyu is currently conducting a data collection of the victims.