The Government's Legal Responsibility in the Free Nutritional Meal Program Poisoning Case in Indonesia

The Free Nutritional Meal Program is a government policy aimed at improving public health and welfare by addressing the need for nutritious food, especially for school-age children. However, in its implementation, the program still faces various problems, particularly related to cases of food poisoning that cause health harm to the community and raise issues of government legal responsibility. This study aims to analyze the government's legal responsibility for poisoning cases under the Free Nutritional Meal Program in Indonesia, examine the forms of legal protection for victims, and examine government efforts to prevent such cases. This study uses a normative legal research method with a legislative, conceptual, and case approach. The legal sources consist of primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials, which are analyzed qualitatively and descriptively. The results of the study indicate that the government has administrative, civil, and criminal responsibility for cases of poisoning resulting from negligence in program supervision and implementation. Factors contributing to food poisoning include weak food safety supervision, the use of unsuitable food ingredients, lack of coordination among agencies, and poor-quality food management and distribution. Legal protection for victims includes health services, compensation, access to justice, and law enforcement against responsible parties. This research also demonstrates the need for policy reform by strengthening regulations, enhancing food safety oversight systems, improving the quality of human resources, implementing good governance principles to ensure the safe implementation of the Free Nutritious Meals Program, and focusing on community protection.

Legal Responsibility, Government, Food Poisoning

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