ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to evaluate brands of flour, semolina andtable salts for their quality and micronutrient contents. Assuming a 30,000IU level of fortification for vitamin A in the flour and semolina samples, vitamin A losses of 16.11% for Golden Penny Semolina, 18.83% for Honeywell flour, 19.61% for Pure flour, 19.88% for Honeywell whole wheat meal, 20.06% for Golden Penny flour, 21.06% for Supreme semolina and 21.72% for Honeywell Semolina were recorded. Results obtained for iron content analyses of the flour and semolina samples showed very low levels of iron (8.31mg/kg – 10.94mg/kg) in all the samples analysed. This poses a huge challenge in the effort to fight iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) in Nigeria. For the salt sample analyses, the effects of the interactive relationships between storage time, brand, and packaging on iodine losses, moisture content and pH were also investigated. The results showed that all salt samples analysed had adequate amounts of added iodine (Mean values ≥ 30ppm) at the time of analyses but storage time and exposure of the salt samples had significant effects (p<0.05) on the rate of iodine losses, assuming a 50ppm level of iodisation at the time of production as stated on the labels thereby suggesting the need for improved consumer education and awareness, monitoring and evaluation by relevant agencies, and salt producers making necessary processing adjustmentsat the point of production to reduce the rate of iodine losses under different conditions of handling, storage and distribution.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables vii
Abstract viii
CHAPTER
1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
of the Study 1
1.2 Statement
of the Problem 5
1.3 Justification 5
1.4 Objectives 5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 The
Current Status of Fortification Programs in Africa 6
2.2 Harmonization
of Food Fortification Standards in Africa 7
2.3 Fortification Priorities for the African
Region 8
2.4 Successes in Developing Countries 9
2.5
Fortification of Staple Foods;
A Successful History 14
2.6
Programmes and Problems 17
2.7 Monitoring
and Evaluation as a Critical Factor in the Sustenability of
Fortification 22
2.8 Childhood
Nutrition and Malnutrition in Nigeria 26
2.9 Micronutrient
Malnutrition in Nigeria 27
2.10 Current Global Status 30
2.10.1 Iron
deficiency and anaemia 30
2.10.2 Vitamin
A 34
2.10.3 Iodine 37
2.10.4 Zinc 40
2.10.5 Other B
– vitamins (Thiamine, Riboflavin and Niacin) 45
2.10.6 Thiamine 46
2.10.7 Riboflavin 49
2.10.8 Niacin 50
2.10.9 Calcium 53
2.11 Fortification
with Several Micronutrients 55
2.12 Micronutrient
Stability 56
2.13
Bioavailability 59
2.14 Labelling 60
2.15 How effective is Mandatory Fortification in Nigeria? 61
CHAPTER 3: MATERIALS AND
METHODS
3.1 Source
of Materials 63
3.2 Methods 63
3.3 Proximate Analysis 64
3.3.1
Moisture content 64
3.3.2
Fat content 64
3.3.3
Ash content 65
3.3.4
Crude fibre 66
3.3.5
Protein content 66
3.3.6
Carbohydrate content 67
3.3.7 Determination
of thiamin 67
3.3.8
Determination of riboflavin 68
3.3.9 Determination of niacin 69
3.3.10
Determination of vitamin A content 70
3.3.11 Determination of iodine content 71
3.3.12
Determination of pH 72
3.3.13 Determination
of mineral contents 72
3.4 Statistical
Analysis 75
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Results of the proximate analyses on the
flour and semolina samples 76
4.2 Results of the
vitamin content analyses of the flour and semolina
samples. 82
4.3 Results of mineral content determination of
the flour and semolina
samples. 85
4.4 Effect of storage time on the shelf stability
of the different salt
samples analysed. 90
4.5 Effect of salt source (producing firms) on the
shelf stability of all the
salt samples analysed.
93
4.6 Packaging material and exposure effects
on iodine retention/stability
depending
on salt producer 96
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusion 99
5.2 Recommendations 100
REFERENCES 101
APPENDIX 117
LIST OF TABLE
2.1 Standard
fortification specifications for selected staple
foods in Nigeria 62
4.1 Results of
proximate analyses on the flour and semolina
samples 81
4.2 Results of vitamin content determination
for the different
flour and semolina samples. 84
4.3 Results of mineral
content determination for the flour and
semolina samples 89
4.4 Results of the effects of production year
on iodine retention
of the salt samples analysed.
92
4.5 Result on the effect of salt source
(producing firm) on the
shelf
stability of the salt samples analysed 95
4.6 Results on the effect of kind of packaging
and exposure on
the iodine content, moisture content and pH of the salt
samples analysed with emphasis on producing firm (Brand) 98
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Fortification is defined as the addition
of one or more essential nutrients to a food whether or not it is originally
contained in the food, for the purpose of preventing or correcting a
demonstrated deficiency of one or more nutrients in the population or specific
population groups (Allen et al.,
2006). The fortification vehicle can either be a staple food or a processed commercially-available
food, and a lot of food vehicles have been tried.
Micronutrients are chemical substances in
foods that are essential for human health and well being needed in very small
amounts. These micronutrients include essential trace minerals and all of the
known vitamins. Micronutrient deficiency develops when consumption of
bioavailable micronutrients in foods are just too low to meet standard requirements,
and this affects about one third to half of the global population. The most common
forms of micronutrient deficiencies are iodine, iron, and vitamin A deficiency
(Allen et al., 2006).
Foods for human and animal consumption are
obtained from agriculture, which means that agricultural products are the
primary source of most essential nutrients needed for good health and
development. If these agricultural products alone can not supply all the required
essential nutrients in the amounts required for good health and sound productive
lives, malnutrition develops. To date, the major focus of agricultural innovation
and research has always been on improving yields with no emphasis on raising the
nutrient output of farming systems.
Food security is very important but the
nutritional quality of crops produced must be priority too if sustainable
progress toward reducing or eliminating the prevalence of malnutrition is to be
realized.
Several categories of commercial
fortification programs are ongoing in countries globally. They include mass
fortification, targeted fortification, voluntary fortification and mandatory
fortification. In mass fortification, essential micronutrients are added to a
food that is consumed evenly by a wide spectrum of the general population
(Allen et al., 2006). This is the most
preferred and effective type of fortification programme employed when there is
evidence that a large proportion of the general population is at risk of a
particular micronutrient deficiency. Targeted fortification is implemented when
a particular group within a given population e.g. infants has a unique risk for
a particular nutrient deficiency.
An example is the addition of micronutrients
to infant formulas or infant cereals. Voluntary fortification is where a food
company voluntarily adds nutrients to a food that is not mandated by the government
legislaton to be fortified. Mandatory fortification is where the government
issue laws or regulations that require the enrichment and fortification of
certain foods to standard specifications. Where there is documented evidence of
widespread nutrient deficiency diseases within a given population, mandatory
fortification is usually legislated by government. For any fortification
programme to be sustainable over the long term, there must to be an effective
program in place for monitoring fortification compliance by the food
processors.
To solve the problem of micronutrient malnutrition,
fortification of selected staple foods has proven to be very efficient for
certain micronutrients; the iodization of table salt, fortification of
wheatflour with iron and vitamin A and fortification of vegetable oil with
vitamin A (Poletti et al., 2004). The
objective of the international community and relevant agencies has so far been
on the three most prevalent deficiencies: vitamin A, iodine and iron (Johnson et al., 2004), although zinc and folic
acid deficiencies are emerging as important public health problems.
The iodine deficiency resulting from
geological rather than socio-economic conditions cannot be corrected by
changing dietary habits or by eating specific kinds of foods but should be eliminated
by supplying the needed iodine from other external sources. Therefore it has
been common practice to use common salt as a vehicle for iodine fortification
for the past 75 years.
Salt is consumed evenly at approximately
the same level throughout the year by the entire population of a region hence
iodization of salt has now been accepted universally as a strategy for
combating iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) (W.H.O, 2007).
A number of strategies have been employed worldwide
to tackle iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) among vulnerable groups. Iron
supplementation, nutritional education, control of infectious and parasitic
diseases and fortification of foods with iron are some of the acceptable
strategies. When iron deficiency anaemia is population-wide and results from a
combination of low iron intakes and low bioavailability, fortification of wheat
flour with iron offers a number of added strategic advantages.
Therefore among all the strategies employed
to deliver additional iron to humans, food fortification and enrichment has the
highest potential to improve the iron status of a large proportion of the
global population (Lynch, 2005; Anjum et
al., 2006). Iron is being added to flour to replace what is possibly lost
during milling or reach a level higher than what is possibly found naturally in
whole wheat. The criteria for choosing the form of iron (fortificant) to be added
to milled flour include its bioavailability, effect on the quality and colour
of flour and flour products and cost (Nalubola and Nestel, 2000).
The World Health Organisation estimates
that 5.2 million preschool children show signs of night blindness due to
vitamin A deficiency and 190 million have low serum retinol concentrations,
which indicates vitamin A deficiency (Sherwin et al., 2012). Xerophthalmia, a drying of the conjunctiva and
cornea of the eye is the most well known visible consequence of vitamin A
deficiency. It leads to night blindness, bitot’s spots, corneal ulceration and
ultimately blindness. Vitamin A deficiency has also been associated with
increased morbidity and mortality from measles, diarrhea, respiratory and other
infections presumably due to impaired immune response caused by the deficiency
(Mayo-Wilson et al., 2011). Varieties
of food vehicles used for vitamin A fortification include margarine, vegetable
oils, milk and complimentary foods.
However,
the success of fortification programs largely depends on micronutrient stability
and the foods to which they are added. If the fortificant is exposed to the
physical and chemical factors such as air, heat, light, acid or alkaline
environments and moisture during food processing, packaging, distribution and
storage affects its stability (Huma, 2004). So far, results from studies on
micronutrient stability in fortified foods in Nigeria is scarce hence this
study could provide important information on stability of fortificants and rate
of micronutrient losses due to handling, distribution and storage conditions.
Food fortification legislation in Nigeria must be holistically monitored by
relevant agencies to ensure compliance by food processors as this will help in
the prevention and control of micronutrient malnutrition.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
Despite the national and international
recommendations that selected consumer goods be fortified to standard
specifications, the re-emergence of micronutrient deficiency symptoms among
vulnerable groups in the Nigerian population may suggest inadequate
micronutrient fortification by manufacturers, or loss of fortificants due to
storage conditions, handling and distribution processes.
1.3 OBJECTIVE
The main objective of study is aimed at a
quality assessment and micronutrient content evaluation of selected food
samples and comparing the results with standard specifications to ascertain
conformity.
The specific objectives are
1. To determine the quality status of wheat
flour, semolina and table salt sold in the market.
2. To determine the effect of storage on the
quality indices of the wheat flour, semolina and the table salt samples.
3. To evaluate the effect of storing the
selected table salt samples in different kinds of packaging materials.
1.4 JUSTIFICATION
It is important to ascertain the levels of
micronutrient fortification in selected food samples and to draw the necessary
conclusions with special reference to micronutrient content/losses at the point
of consumption, under different conditions of storage and distribution.
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