Nigerians can tackle malnutrition with regular fruit juice intake – Dietician

Olusola Malomo, a food and nutrition expert with the Lagos State Government, has said that regular intake of fruit juice can end micronutrient deficiency in the country.

He says that the shortage of micronutrients in diets is as life-threatening as common health challenges.

Malomo said this at the August edition of his healthy living dialogue, a programme supported by Chi Limited as part of its ‘no-added sugar’ campaign, which kicked started last year.

He noted that fruit juice contains essential micronutrients, which are deficient in most foods consumed especially by urban dwellers, saying absence of such nutrients could incapacitate human system and lead to serious health challenges.

“Fruit juice contains a combination of macronutrients, micronutrients, phytonutrients and minerals. An array of micronutrients found in fruit juice contributes immensely to the ability of the body to fight free radicals and maintain a healthy status,” he said.

“As a result, micronutrient deficiency poses equal, if not more serious, challenge as deficiency in macro nutrients,” he further said.

He classified fruit juice product to not-from-concentrate and from-concentrate category, stressing that 100 percent fruit juice is as good as whole fruit. The expert was reacting to what he called wrong perception that no juice is as healthy or nutritious as whole fruit.

Speaking on the ‘science of fruit juice’, he said “the ripe fruit is harvested and goes straight to the factory where it is then washed, squeezed and rapidly pasteurised before it is then packaged. This is a typical process of fruit juice processing”.

The nutritionist clarified some distinction between fruit juice ‘not from concentrate’ and ‘from concentrates’ saying fruit juice processed from concentrate only takes a few more stages.

“Like in the case of Chivita, the fruit juice is packed using aseptic method to help protect its natural nutrients and quality without the use of any preservative,” he explained.

The Chivita ‘no-added sugar’ campaign seeks to support the sharing of unbiased information on the relevance and nutritional value of 100 percent fruit juice by independent efforts of experts.

Josephine Okojie