Nigeria Takes Aim at Malnutrition With ... Bouillon

Malnourished households in Nigeria soon will have a simple ingredient available to improve their intake of key vitamins and minerals. Government regulators are launching standards for adding iron, zinc, folic acid, and vitamin B12 to bouillon cubes at minimum levels recommended by experts. While the standards will be voluntary for manufacturers for now, their adoption could help accelerate progress against diets deficient in essential micronutrients, or what's known in nutrition and public health circles as "hidden hunger." Fortified bouillon cubes could avert up to 16.6 million cases of anemia and up to 11,000 deaths from neural tube defects in Nigeria, according to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Regardless of economic situation or income level, everyone uses seasoning cubes," said 56-year-old Idowu Bello as she dropped one in her melon soup.

• A growing, multipronged problem: Making do with smaller portions and less-nutritious foods is common among many Nigerian households, reports the AP. A recent government survey estimated that 79% of Nigerian households are food insecure. The climate crisis, which has seen extreme heat and unpredictable rainfall patterns hobble agriculture in Africa's troubled Sahel region, will worsen the problem, with several million children expected to experience growth problems due to malnutrition between now and 2050, per the Gates Foundation report released Tuesday.
• More: "Farmlands are destroyed, you have a shortage of food, the system is strained, leading to inflation making it difficult for the people to access foods, including animal-based proteins," said Augustine Okoruwa, a nutrition expert at Helen Keller International. The large-scale production of fortified foods would unlock a new way to "increase micronutrients in the food staples of low-income countries to create resilience for vulnerable families," the Gates Foundation said.
• Bouillon as the vehicle: Bouillon cubes are widely consumed in many African countries, nearing 100% household penetration in countries like Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon, according to a study by HKI, which has partnered with the Gates Foundation. That makes the cubes the "most cost-effective way" to add minerals and vitamins to the diets of millions of people, Okoruwa said.
• Compliance and science: One challenge is the "campaign of calumny" in a region where science-led interventions in the food sector have sometimes faced resistance from interest groups, Okoruwa said. Educating people about the benefits of fortified products may help counter any possible disinformation campaigns.

More here. (More Nigeria stories.)