FOOD fortifications are carried out for so many reasons. Most times, fortifications are done when policy makers observed some gaps either in a particular micro nutrient as relates to deficiencies in the populace in order to remedy the situation. For instance, there are different levels to fill this gaps which includes; supplementation in which the micro nutrient in question is given in the form of capsules or tablets or added in some food for children.
The second option is fortification. In fortifying food, we look at a particular food that is very good and very much available for the majority of the people. Unfortunately, Nigerian has no centrally processed food system like in developed countries. Today in Nigeria you realise that many of our foods are not centrally processed. So, the only foods that are fortified right now are the flour, the wheat flour, and the maize flour in the form of semolina, you also have the vegetable oil, the sugar and then you have the salt that is iodised.
These are centrally processed to some extent; therefore, it is easier to use them as a vehicle for fortification. Recently, something happened in Nigeria which is the biofortification, where cassava that contains yellow flesh was found to contain adequate carotene which is the major source of Vitamin A. Also currently, there was controversy over the safety and benefit of the combination in foods. However, the President of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, NSN, Professor Ignatius Onimawo spoke to journalists in Lagos and Vanguard Health Features was there: Excerpts:
COMPARING cassava flour and Wheat flour
I must say that I was alarmed when I saw it on television, where a motion was moved in the House of Representatives and some information was provided to the extent that cassava was food that will lead to increase in diabetes. There was a lot of information that were given which to my mind should not have been, because in the first instance, the prevalence quoted from that report that the diabetes rate in Nigeria is between 20-30 per cent is completely untrue.
The diabetes rate in Nigeria is less than 10 percent. In fact, we have not done a recent survey; that was just a projected percentage. The last survey was done around 1992 and it was not even a nationwide survey and it put the diabetic rate at 2.5 percent. From 1992 till now, there is projection – that it must have increased up to about 9.5 per cent. So the issue of the 20, 30 percent does not arise. That one is not true.
(http://vml1.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Prof-Ignatius-Onimawo.jpg?9d7bd4) (http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/06/with-cassava-wheat-in-our-flour-we-can-tackle-diabetes/prof-ignatius-onimawo/)Professor Ignatius Onimawo The other is that the person who was moving that motion said that cassava flour, when added to wheat flour to make bread, increases the rate of diabetes; it is completely untrue because when we talk about diabetes, there are two things you talk about, which are the glycaemic index and the glycaemic load.
Now, foods with low glycaemic index are foods that diabetics are advised to consume and cassava is not among the high glycaemic index food. In fact, wheat flour has high glacemic index between 70-72, while cassava has a glycaemic index between 46 and 60. That is the range for cassava.
Having that at the back of our minds, it then means that when you mix cassava flour with low glycaemic index with wheat flour that has high glycaemic index, the blend that will come with the glycaemic index will come down.
So in essence, if we are going to attack diabetes, then the mix of cassava flour and wheat flour is even the right step to start with because by the time you combine cassava flour with that wheat flour, the glycaemic index of the overall product will come down, because that of white bread is 70 as at now. So when you bring cassava flour into it, and it may bring it down to about 60, thereby giving a better product that will now fall within the range of medium glycaemic index food.
There was a survey that was conducted in Kenya and in that survey, they found that out of over 1,380 people that were surveyed, they got their energy or calorie intake from cassava. About 86 per cent of that number got their calorie intake from cassava and none of them was diabetic. In the same survey, among those who were diabetic in that community, they found that they rarely took cassava. They ate other sorts of food. So cassava is not implicated as the causative effects for diabetes; that is the point I am making.
Policy of Government on Cassava floor inclusion in wheat flour
My advice is that the policy of government on the inclusion of cassava flour into wheat flour for the production of bread is a step in the right direction. And I thought the argument were going to be, maybe the crumb structure of the bread, maybe the weight of the bread – these were going to be issues because of the fact that there was no glutting in cassava flour. But that is not the argument.
Even then, the American government, through the programme we had in Lagos about two weeks ago, has shown that even in such situations where you use a product that does not contain glutting, you should add about five percent soya beans flour to that particular formulation, then the loaf file improves and therefore the crumb structure of the bread also improves. I think it is another opportunity for government to encourage soya beans producers so that they include five percent soya beans flour along with the 40 per cent of cassava flour to the wheat flour to produce our bread. And that is where we have several advantages.
One, the glycaemic index will be lower because the glycaemic index of soya bean is lower than that of cassava. Soya bean contains a lot of protein and protein will be good in bread. The crumb structure will be fine and the taste will be better, and it will be more nourishing than what we have now.
I want to state that there is need for nutrition education in Nigeria. In fact, is good that the National Assembly member raised this issue and I think, perhaps, he had the interest of Nigerians at heart: he didn't want Nigerians to become diabetic and, therefore, now that the information has come, it is good that they too be informed about this so that they will be better placed to serve the Nigerian public.
Lawmakers involvement in nutrition issues with specific reference to cassava flour and food fortification.
At this point in time, it is the cassava flour for bread making. What has happened is the neglect of nutrition by past governments. We have made several attempts in the past for government to again look into the issue of nutrition. I understand that during President Obasanjo's regime – at about the time he was about going, he made a pronouncement that he had formed the National Nutrition Council which is to be inaugurated thereafter. As we speak now, five years after, that council has not been inaugurated and that council was to be a hub that will link to other stakeholders in the area of nutrition. Within the National Assembly there are various sub-committees. There are some on health.
This is the time for them to engage professional associations to have nutrition society, food science society and other societies that are professionally based. There is need for us to have a common ground to look at some of the issues. A lot of researches have been done. Even trying to look at the value chain of these products, for instance, sorghum is one of the crops that the present Minister of Agriculture is looking into. We have done some researches on sorghum where sorghum has been used to produce breakfast cereals that looked like Quaker Oat. It was better nutritionally and the taste was nice. But they are on the shelf because there is no collaboration between research institutes, universities, the industries and the public. So that gap has been there. And the various sub-committees of the National Assembly, when they have an issue that is so hot, they normally call for a public hearing.
Treating diabetic patients
I will advise that they call for public hearing in this kind of matter. They should invite all the professionals, including the medical doctors that are treating diabetic patients. Let them come and let's discuss this matter so that Nigerian people will be better informed.This is a matter of science; it's not a matter of conjecture or what a particular person thinks. There is need to have a committee on nutrition because the whole world has realised that nutrition is development, because if a child is not properly nourished, that child is going to under-develop. Our legislators are not aware of this , so it is an opportunity to draw their attention.
Advantages of cassava flour in bread: Cassava has many advantages. We can look at it as a dilution factor. The level of glutting will definitely be reduced; therefore, it will become highly diluted and will have no negative effect on those who suffer from allergy. The impact will be so minimal, so it is a double advantage. Let's look at the taste, structure and the weight. Every country has its own bread. So, Nigerian bread which is cassava and wheat flour is really nice.
Vanguard Nigeria