FG moves to scale up micronutrient fortification of Nigerian rice

The Federal Government says it has included rice on the list of foods that must be fortified with micronutrients to reduce the rate of hidden hunger in the country.

Mr John Uruakpa, Deputy Director and Head of the MicroNutrition Deficiency Unit, Federal Ministry of Health, made this known on Monday in Lagos.

He said this during the launch of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Large-Scale Food Fortification (LSFF) Strategy.

Food fortification is the practice of adding vitamins and minerals to commonly consumed foods during processing to increase their nutritional value.

Uruakpa said rice fortification would improve the nutritional quality derived from the staple food and provide a public health benefit with minimal health risk.

According to him, food fortification is a proven, cost-effective, sustainable, and scalable intervention that will ensure access to micronutrients that are necessary for a healthy and functional body.

He said the government would continue to create the enabling environment that would encourage partners to expand their food fortification efforts in Nigeria.

Also, Dr Andreas Bluethner, Director of Nutrition, BMGF, said that fortification of wheat flour, maize flour, vegetable oil, margarine, salt and sugar had been mandatory in Nigeria for more than 10 years.

He, however, noted that it had been challenging to ensure that the micronutrient content of the foods meets Nigeria’s national standards.

“Foods have often been found to be inadequately fortified or even unfortified when spot-tested at the market level.

“This has slowed the contributions of food fortification to fighting Nigeria’s high levels of micronutrient deficiencies, which include life-threatening deficiencies in iron, vitamin A, zinc, folic acid, and iodine,” he said.

By Ochogwu Sunday   https://dailypost.ng/2022/03/14/fg-moves-to-scale-up-micronutrient-fortification-of-nigerian-rice/