NAFDAC commences food fortification campaign #nigeria

The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), recently commenced a social marketing communication campaign on food fortification at the Ojuwoye Market in Mushin, Lagos. The campaign is supported by Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). A representative of the Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, on the occasion, the Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, NAFDAC, Mrs. Ugochukwu Mainasara, was delighted at the successful commencement of the campaign. She said: "The social marketing campaign holding today demonstrates the total commitment of all stakeholders to ensure the success of the food fortification programme in Nigeria. This is important as it aligns with the Agency's core mandate of 'safeguarding the health of the nation'. "NAFDAC is also responsible for ensuring that the mandatory food fortification policy of the government and support programme from development partners is effectively implemented so as to achieve the desired objectives." The Food Fortification Programme (FFP) is an intervention to enhance the quality and quantity of nutrients readily available in consumer goods, such as salt, flour, oil, sugar, etc. For example, nutrients such as Vitamin A, Iron, Zinc, Iodine, are largely missing in the foods that the common man consumes. However, through the intervention of the FFP, these nutrients, which are imperative to qualitative growth, would be added to these consumer products, so as to boost the overall health of the Nigerian people. Mainsara noted that the average Nigerian lacks the essential nutrients to encourage maximum health. She remarked: "The prevalence of micro-nutrient deficiency in the population is still of public health significance. The staple diet of the rural poor still lacks the essential nutrients that will enable them to live healthy lives." Nigeria Country Manager for GAIN, Larry Umunna, challenged consumers, while he addressed the market women, to always buy and consume products that have the food fortification stamp of NAFDAC and Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON). "Consumers need to begin to ask questions, and start actively seeking for fortified foods, because it is their right," he said. Umunna further pledged that GAIN would continue to support the Nigerian government and its peoples in the fight to eradicate Micronutrient Deficiency Disease. President of the Association of Food, Beverage, Tobacco Employers (AFBTE), Otunba Daramola, who was also at the event, eulogised the importance of food fortification. "We are very much concerned about the value of nutrients in food," he said. "We are in support of what GAIN is doing." Daramola also explained that producers of the four staple foods which most people consume in Nigeria - flour, sugar, salt, vegetable oil - are mandated to fortify their products. He praised the adherence of manufacturers as, according to him, they have not only complied to these demands, but have gone ahead to fortify more products outside the bracket, including fruit juices, malt drinks, and even magic cubes. Chairman of the National Fortification Alliance, Fred Chiazor, another speaker at the event, noted that all the achievements made in the area of food fortification has been as a result of concerted efforts from various organisations, such as GAIN and Maverick. He also mentioned that Nigeria was the first country in Africa to get international recognition for achieving Universal Salt Iodisation. Food fortification in Nigeria can be traced back to 199o, as a follow-up to declarations from the World Summit for children held in New York, USA to eradicate Micro-nutrient Deficiency Disorders. Following a benchmark survey in 1995, wheat/corn flour, sugar and vegetable oil were identified as the vehicles for fortification with vitamin A, because of their relative affordability, accessibility and technical feasibility. Fortification of these food vehicles have since been found to cost-effective, sustainable, and capable of achieving high coverage, as even the most vulnerable population uses at least one of the vehicles daily.