Making Food Products More Nutritious
According to the 2017 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, a staggering 43.6 per cent of Nigerian children are stunted – not growing at the pace they should. Are you in manufactured food business? What is the nutritional value of your product? Will your product help nourish your customers and ensure they remain healthy enough to make repeat purchases?
The fight against nutritional deficiencies can only be won with a multifaceted approach. It calls for individuals, food producers and the government joining hands together to ensure success. In the last few years, there has been some heightened level of nutrition awareness amongst some Nigerians. Primarily as a result of the volume of information that is readily available on the internet. Despite this, the level of nutrition knowledge amongst the larger percentage of the populace remains low. How do you explain a consumer that says that ‘boiled corn has less carbohydrate than roasted corn’? Or a young lady on a reducing diet feasting on fruits and saying ‘I have tried to lose weight but the reading on my scale is not moving downwards’. For this lady fruits are not carbohydrates and so should not affect her weight.
For food producers or manufacturers on the other hand, there is a need to consciously ensure that foods meant for consumers provide the required nutrients. In addition they should provide sufficient nutritional information on their product packs, for consumers to make informed food choices. The mother that buys food for her young child is totally dependent on the producer to ensure that the content of the product she buys meet the need of her child. We eat a pack of chin-chin or plantain chips and may not be aware of the amount of carbohydrate, fat or salt it contains.
Does food producers know what to do? Whilst we cannot argue that every business is set out to be financially viable, however, the food producer should approach his/her enterprise from the mindset of a social entrepreneur. A shift in orientation is what is needed such that it is possible for the producer to achieve both objectives. The starting point therefore is for the food producer to have some nutrition knowledge or get the service of an expert in this area. This will be one way to ensure provision of nutritious products and communicate clearly the product nutritional benefit on labels.
Is there a consumer knowledge gap? For many Nigerians the daily contact with nutrition is mainly on food product labels. Nutrition as a subject only starts to be taught in secondary school and even at that it is not compulsory. Even for those that take the subject, it is Home Economics and Nutrition with the former been the greater subject content. No wonder the ability to make informed food choices in adulthood becomes a problem. Research has shown that a lot of the common foodrelated ailments like diabetes and obesity can be prevented or the incidences reduced if there is adequate nutrition knowledge. The educational system may have to consider introducing nutrition as a subject right from primary school. There is certainly a gap in knowledge.
Making foods nutritious is possible
Whilst the consumers struggle to understand basic balanced diet, the producer should be positioned to provide information in simple understandable language to guide the consumer in making healthy food choices. It is a responsibility the food producer cannot leave to government food regulatory agencies alone. As a consumer, I want to know what a packet of plantain chips can contribute nutritionally to my daily food intake requirement. Indeed what does it do for me? It is not enough to list out ingredients in quantities I do not understand. I want to know if your product will help improve my eyesight, help my skin glow or increase my energy level to work. In the case of children’s foods the mum wants to know if the food will promote growth, make the child have strong bones and teeth.
A call for social Impact How does your product ensure that if consumed, can contribute to a greater workforce for tomorrow? Does your product offer good nutrition, or empty calories?’ As businesses you control the product, have the reach and can trigger the desires of the consumer, put your assets to good use, you are critical in this fight against malnutrition.