Producers of wheat asked to fortify food products with nutrients

Producers of wheat flour and vegetable oil, have been asked to enriched their products with micro-nutrients to boost the health of consumers.

Mr Richard Owusu Nyumuah, Manager, National Food Fortification Project (NFFP), said they should see to it that the wheat flour had the specified levels of iron, zinc, folic acid, vitamins A and B and vegetable oil.

This, he said, was necessary to tackle the high incidence of malnutrition, anaemia and stunted growth, as well as iron and iodine deficiency, amongst the people.

Mr Nyumuah was speaking at a day’s seminar on diet and nutrition held for a section of traders at the Kumasi Central Market on Tuesday.

The NFFP organised the programme with support from the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) and Ghana Health Services (GHS).

It aimed at sensitising the participants on the benefits of patronizing fortified food products and to also introduce the newly-created logo, differentiating fortified wheat flour and vegetable oil from the non-fortified.

The logo is a joint initiative of the FDB, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, GHS and NFFA.

Mr Nyumuah said eating fortified foods would help to increase the intake of the necessary nutrients vital for body building and repair of the body tissues.

The GHS projects that child death due to vitamin ‘A’ deficiency would hit about 105,000 by 2014.

Presently, it is estimated that about 60 per cent of Ghanaian children under age five, is anaemic compared with the World Health Organisation’s cut-off point of 10 per cent.

Mr Nyumuah said this was a disincentive to achieving the Millennium Development Goals on health and appealed for hard work to improve the situation.

Mr Joseph Yaw-Bernie Bennie, Ashanti Regional Zonal Officer of the FDB, called on the people to eat more fruits and vegetable to improve their health.

Source: GNA