Mairo Mandara, the African advisor of the Sight and Life Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, has reiterated the organisation’s commitment to supporting research and studies to improve the nutritional value of foods consumed in Nigeria.

Ms Mandara, who is also a health practitioner, spoke at a media engagement in Lagos on Thursday.

She said the main objective of the move would be to ensure that nutrients in foods were actually absorbed by the body after consumption to support better nutrition and overall well-being.

She explained that most commonly consumed foods are not bioavailable because of antinutrient content, such as phytic acid.

She said, “The Sight and Life Foundation supports research and scientific evidence and tries to bring scientific evidence up to scale.

“We partner with organisations that bring scientific evidence up to scale in the interest of humans. Basically, our goal is to ensure that when we eat, all the nutrients in the food are absorbed 100 per cent into the body and used, not wasted.

“This is because here, we eat a lot of whole cereals and legumes like maize, whole wheat, beans and others which have nutrients, but some of the nutrients like iron, zinc and calcium don’t get absorbed because there’s an anti-nutrient called ‘phytic acid’ in the food.

“So, what the phytase does is degrade the phytic acid and unlock and release the micronutrients so the body can make use of them.”

According to her, the foundation focuses on improving human nutrition.

She highlighted that a study aimed at improving the nutritional value of foods had been documented and would be shared with the regulatory agencies in Nigeria.

She listed the agencies as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the Dangote Foundation.

Lynda Ugwoke, a food technologist with the Sight and Life Foundation, added that the studies aimed to encourage manufacturers to include the phytase enzyme in the processing of whole foods to reduce phytic acid content.

According to her, another strategy for reducing phytic acid is soaking and fermentation.

She encouraged the general public to consume fermented foods such as garri, fufu, masa and locally fermented products.

“All these are to ensure that the vitamins are there – the iron, the calcium, the zinc, and also protein availability are unleashed.

“So, in this meeting, we have in attendance the regulatory authorities in the nutrition space to share with them all the scientific findings,” she said.

According to her, the major takeaway from the meeting is that, with increasing poverty and declining ability to buy food, people can actually get the maximum value from food nutrients.

“This fight has offered us an opportunity to maximise the nutrients of the food we buy,” she said.

(NAN)