Top food product manufacturer, Crown Flour Mill Limited, a subsidiary of Olam Group, is eyeing 90 percent food fortification compliance with a state-of-the-art vitamin premix facility.
This is in line with the target set at the penultimate edition of the Nigerian Food Processing and Nutrition Leadership Forum.
At the 3rd annual gathering of the top players in the food industry in the country, Ashish Pande, managing director, Crown Flour Mill Limited, said Crown Flour Mills had established a state-of-the-art vitamin premix facility in Nigeria with technical support from the international nonprofit Technoserve, under the Strengthening African Processors of Fortified Foods programme.
“The goal is to prepare vitamin premix according to the regulatory requirement of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and to supply Crown Flour plants with high quality and food-safe vitamin premix. This is the first-ever by any flour miller in Nigeria,” Pande said.
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“Improving the food fortification levels of staple foods is one agenda that we are utterly committed to at Olam Grains. Sustainability is one of the key enablers of our operational strategy. It is at the heart of our business’s drive to reimagine global agriculture and food systems. Providing access to nutrition which enables Nigerians to live healthy and productive lives, therefore, sits at the core of our purpose as a business,” he said.
Wheat flour, edible oil, cooking salt and sugar formed the core target for fortification at the forum. All participants at the forum stressed their commitment to meeting and scaling the grand target to ensure that the over 180 million Nigerian population can access fortified foods that will aid their physical and mental development.
Going forward, a sustainability framework aimed at enforcing compliance through strict regulation and monitoring has been set up. These include industry-led self-regulation through the Micronutrient Fortification Index (MFI), Joint Regulatory Framework (JRF), and Governance and Accountability Strategy (GAS).
Larry Umunna, Technoserve’s West Africa regional director, said if Nigeria was serious about creating jobs, expanding its markets and growing its economy, nutrition and food systems should be put in the centre of the conversation.
The forum, convened by the Aliko Dangote Foundation in collaboration with Technoserve and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, had in attendance Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Niyi Adebayo, minister of industry, trade and investment, Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, CEOS of top food manufacturers, chairs of national and global food regulatory agencies, and representatives of not-for-profit organisations.
