Food fortification programme expanded

The Mozambican government is expanding the national food fortification programme in line with its commitment to reducing malnutrition.

On 2 May the Ministry of Industry and Trade delivered equipment to two food processing factories in Beira.

Vitamin A will be added to vegetable oil, and the food processing company MEREC will fortify food with iron, zinc, folic acid and B-complex vitamins.

Speaking during the handover of equipment, the Minister of Industry and Trade, Armando Inroga, said that through the national food fortification programme “we will have lower rates of anaemia in pregnant women and healthier children”.

He added that the second phase of the programme will be the implementation of a regulation to forbid the consumption of non-fortified products. The government is therefore first creating the conditions for the food industry to be able to fortify their products.

The programme was launched in September 2013 in Maputo with the handover of fortification equipment to the country’s largest food processing companies, the Companhia Industrial de Matola (CIM) and MEREC.

At the time, the Minister explained that the first phase of the programme would last a year. During this period fortification equipment will be installed in the main food processing companies.

The government has set up a National Food Fortification Committee (CONFAM) to ensure that micronutrients are added to foodstuffs. CONFAM is jointly chaired by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Health Ministry.

The project’s implementing agency is Helen Keller International (HKI), working in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), and the NGOs World Vision and Population Services International (PSI).