Nestle leads way to improving micro-nutrient intake

Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

MICRO-NUTRIENTS are nutrients which are needed by the human body in very tiny amounts but it is estimated that two billion people which is 30 per cent of the global population have some degree of micro-nutrient deficiency.
Micro-nutrient malnutrition can be a risk factor to many diseases and contribute to high rates of morbidity and mortality.
Estimated micro-nutrient deficiencies according to the World Health Report 2002 account for about 7.3 per cent of the global burden of disease, with iron and vitamin A deficiency ranking among the 15 leading causes of the global disease burden.
Micro-nutrients include such dietary minerals as zinc and iodine, and they are necessary for the healthy functioning of all the body's systems, from bone growth to brain function. Sodium, for instance, is responsible for maintaining the proper fluid balance in the body; it helps fluids pass through cell walls and helps regulate appropriate pH levels in ones blood.
Micro-nutrients are commonly referred to as vitamins which include vitamin C, A, D, E and K, as well as the B-complex vitamins and minerals such as flouride, selenium, sodium, iodine, copper and zinc.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that, micro-nutrient deficiency present a huge threat to the health of the world's population naming some common micro-nutrient deficiencies to include iodine deficiency, vitamin A deficiency and iron deficiency.
Iodine deficiency is the world's foremost cause of brain damage. Iodine deficiency, during pregnancy, can result in stillbirth, miscarriage and irreversible mental retardation. Fortunately, it's easily prevented by the use of iodide salt.
Vitamin A deficiency is also a leading cause of blindness in children; in pregnant women, it can cause night blindness and increase maternal mortality rates.
Iron deficiency is the most common deficiency in the world it is the only one prevalent in developed countries. Over 30 per cent of the world's population suffers from iron deficiency anemia.
Micro-nutrients are different from macro-nutrients such as protein, carbohydrate and fat. Micro-nutrients are called "micro"-nutrients because the body needs only very small quantities of them for survival.
The CODEX Contact Point Manager, Ms Joyce Okoree of the Ghana Standards Authority at a forum in Lagos, Nigeria on food fortification recently said globally, nutrition and its relationship to health and wellness has gained great importance.
Micro-nutrients deficiencies she said were widespread and could have devastating effects on health and also serve as a risk factor to many diseases as it contributes to high rates of morbidity and mortality.
The forum organised by Central and West Africa office of Nestle, the first by Nestlé in the Region formed part of the company’s Creating Shared Value (CSV) approach, under which, initiatives are designed to address the company’s business needs while scaling up sustainable investments in nutrition, water and rural development across the world.
It was on the theme "The role of business in food security and nutrition", and was in collaboration with the Lagos Business School of the Pan-African University in Lagos, Nigeria.
In Central and West Africa, Nestlé ramps up investments in cocoa, coffee, grains and cereals to providing educational infrastructure, water and sanitary facilities to underserved communities, as well as addressing malnutrition and obesity through initiatives such as the Nestlé Healthy Kids programme and the micro-nutrients fortification of its products.
Speaking on a sub-topic Commercial market driven fortification, Ms Okoree explained food fortification to mean, the addition of  one or more micro-nutrient that is vitamins, minerals, trace elements to  foods to increase the content of the micro-nutrient to improve the nutritional quality of the food and to provide a public health benefit with minimal health risk.
According to Ms Okoree, “fortifying foods with vitamins and minerals plays a key role in the prevention of micro-nutrient deficiencies, and through the addition of micro-nutrients to commonly consumed foods, large segments of the population could benefit from improved nutrition without major changes in their dietary habits”.
She says fortification requires thorough food safety and quality assessments due to increasing urbanisation coupled with wider availability and accessibility of packaged foods and market driven fortification is important in addressing public health needs, adding, “market driven fortification has a great potential in contributing to meeting nutrient requirements and thereby reducing the risk of micro-nutrient deficiency”.
An expert in fortification, she contends that the evidence of high rates of micro-nutrient deficiency especially in developing countries was based on the fact that diets generally lack diversity as they were usually based on cereals, roots and tubers with low micro-nutrient content.
However, populations with higher socio-economic status, are able to augment staples with micro-nutrient rich foods whereas this can not be said for populations in the lower income brackets.
It is in the light of ensuring that micro-nutrients are provided at the required quantity and quality to the public in general that Nestle, producers of baby and other foods has added iron and other supplement such as Vitamin A to some selected products.
Nestlé fortifies dairy products with micro-nutrients targeting local nutritional needs. It has launched a number of powdered, affordable milks fortified with iron, vitamin A, or zinc, as well as other micro-nutrients according to local needs. These milks include Nido Essentia in Central and West Africa, Ideal in Brazil and Nespray in Malaysia.
By the end of 2010, these affordable milks were available to millions of consumers in over 70 countries worldwide, especially in developing countries.
Also to help combat iodine deficiency, which causes serious impairment to children’s mental and physical development in developing countries, Nestlé’s Maggi bouillon cube is manufactured using iodine-fortified salt. By 2008 Nestlé had sold over 100,000 tonnes of iodine-enriched bouillon, making it the world’s largest food carrier of iodine. This included 19 billion maggi cubes and tablets sold across Central and West Africa, where iodine deficiencies are highly prevalent
Food fortification, such as iodide salt or vitamin D fortified milk, serves as a public health measure to address population-wide nutrient deficiencies.
Foods that contain added nutrients and ingredients would promote or support overall health and wellness in a variety of ways across many different body systems including heart, bone, digestive, eye, and brain health; weight management; and increased energy and immune health, among others.
Globally, the decision to fortify products is left up to individual food manufacturers. Voluntary fortification is a common practice in many countries.  Additionally, 50 countries including the United States, Canada, and Australia require mandatory fortification of certain staple foods with specific nutrient(s) to improve public health, such as the fortification of enriched flour with folic acid to reduce the risk of neural tube birth defects, and restrict the fortification of foods with certain nutrients such as vitamin D.