Nigeria includes rice in fortified foods list

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By Oluwafunke Ishola

The Federal Government says it has included rice on the list of foods that must be fortified with micronutrients to reduce the rate of hidden hunger in the country.

Mr John Uruakpa, Deputy Director and Head of the MicroNutrition Deficiency Unit, Federal Ministry of Health, made this known on Monday in Lagos.

He said this during the launch of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Large-Scale Food Fortification (LSFF) Strategy.

Food fortification is the practice of adding vitamins and minerals to commonly consumed foods during processing to increase their nutritional value.

Uruakpa said that rice fortification would improve the nutritional quality derived from the staple food and provide a public health benefit with minimal health risk.

According to him, food fortification is a proven, cost-effective, sustainable, and scalable intervention that will ensure access to micronutrients that are necessary for a healthy and functional body.

He said…



Source: News Agency of Nigeria