In a bid to ensure that small and medium scale edible oil processors become efficient in delivering Vitamin A in their products, TechnoServe Nigeria has collaborated with BASF – a leading global manufacturer of micronutrients and BioAnalyt – pioneer of on-the-spot micronutrient analysis to train processors on quality control in food fortification.
The regional training which took place in Lagos and Owerri respectively provided edible oil processors insight on the real cost of fortification, global best practices and reinforced the role of processors in improving the health and economy of the nation through their commitment to compliance.
“The training seeks to address the challenges affecting processors in fortifying their products with Vitamin A and how to get fortification right, starting from procument of the vitamin fortificant, to storage, application and internal monitoring and control,” Ayodele Tella, Program Manager – SAPFF, TechnoServe Nigeria said during the training.
Tella indicated that the cumulative effects of malnutrition, some of which are increase in healthcare spending and reduced productivity of the citizen, costs the country about 10% of its gross domestic product which is currently at $420 billion.
She noted that food fortification remains the most cost effective method of reducing micro-nutrient deficiency in the country and that Nigeria needs to spend about $50million on it annually for its 200million people, going by the World Health Organisation’s cost for food fortification of $0.5 to $0.25 per person per year.
TechnoServe Nigeria through its Strengthening African Processors of Fortified Foods (SAPFF) initiative is increasing the compliance of processors in fortification of their products with essential micronutrients by understanding their challenges and helping them in closing the gaps.
TechnoServe is doing this by using a first time market-based approach to solving the problem of low industry compliance.
Claus Soendergaard, global application specialist – Food Fortification & Technical Marketing, BASF who trained the processors on Quality control and Compliance stated that food fortification is a long-term and complementary strategy to tackle hidden hunger.
He advised processors to always protect their Vitamin A as well as products already fortified with it from sunlight, as excessive light penetration causes a certain amount of degradation.
Soendergaard trained the processors on how to calculate the dosage of Vitamin A in a litre of oil. He specified that 20IU/kg is the recommended dosage by the Nigerian government for edible oil fortification with Vitamin A.
Training the participants correspondingly, Anna Zhenchuk, managing director, BioAnalyt – a product innovator of diagnostics and food testing, noted that Vitamin A has more stability in oil than in sugar because the air around it can penetrate the particles and is a natural environment for oil.
Mark Eneh, factory manager, Apple & Pears Limited, one of the participants of the training, stated that the knowledge imbibed from the training was significant to their business.
“There have been some challenges in maintaining the same level of fortification for most processors but today’s workshop has aided us in understanding ways to store our products correctly and also educate our customers on this issue,” Eneh said.
Similarly, Adams Muyideen Olalekan, quality control analyst at SLABMARK Nigeria Limited said that his organisation has always complied with Vitamin A fortification for its oil.
“Calculating the dosage of Vitamin A to a litre of oil has been a consistent problem for us but today’s workshop has helped in addressing the issue,” Olalekan said.
At its conclusion other participants described the training as very insightful, rewarding and timely.
Josephine Okojie
