the South African Food Fortification Programme an Evening of Reflection,
Pretoria
11 December 2007
Programme Director
Representatives of United Nations Children's' Fund (UNICEF)
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)
Grain Miller
The Micronutrient Initiative
And the Department of Trade and Industry
Researchers who were involved in the fortification programme
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be here tonight to reflect on a
subject that, as most of you would agree, is critical for the well-being of our
nation. You surely will agree with us as the Department of Health that
nutrition is one of the most critical determinants of health and this is a
point that we have sought to highlight in all of our health programmes. Food
Fortification is one of the very important programmes that form part of our
efforts to deal with the nutritional challenges facing our country.
The Food Fortification Programme was developed through an extensive process
of stakeholder consultation. There were preparatory studies done to ensure that
our programme was going to be line with international scientific requirements
and addresses needs. The contribution of members of the National Fortification
Alliance, especially the Milling and Baking Industry, Consumer Organisations,
Professional Food and Nutrition Associations and Academics were very valuable
in assisting the Department of Health in developing the Programme.
The South African National Food Fortification Programme was launched in
2003, and it remains one of the most successful national food fortification
programmes in developing world. The Department of Health is grateful for the
ongoing support given to the fortification programme by the Global Alliance for
Improved Nutrition (GAIN). This support assisted in ensuring sustainability of
the programme. The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and the
Micronutrient Initiative (MI) are also acknowledged for their unwavering
support since the early stages of the programme.
Over the four years that the programme has been running, a number of lessons
have been learned and indeed we are continuing to learn new lessons even today.
Firstly allow me to remind you that our bread and maize meal are fortified with
six vitamins and two minerals. Those are vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin,
niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid as well as iron and zinc. This has been
regulated to ensure that all consumers benefit from the fortification
programme. The first commitment towards mandatory fortification we made as a
country was the fortification of table salt with iodine in 1995.
National Surveys have since shown that more than 80% of women and 85% of
children have adequate iodine levels as a result of this intervention. Almost
77% of households have access to adequately iodated salt 15 parts per million
(ppm). This is indicative of the fact that the country has the potential to
deal with micronutrient deficiencies. The mandatory fortification of table salt
has provided valuable lessons and laid a good foundation for the fortification
of maze meal and wheat flour.
Programme director, I am glad to state that as a country we are beginning to
see the impact of the fortification programme. Evidence is emerging showing a
significant reduction in neural tube defects that is attributable to food
fortification. This, ladies and gentlemen further illustrate the importance of
documenting our experiences, analysing and using data as it becomes available
to show-case the impact of the programme.
As you surely would agree with us, monitoring of such a programme is
fundamental in ensuring the improvement of the health of consumers and also
ensuring compliance with the fortification regulations. The findings of
compliance monitoring measures conducted thus far indicate that compliance
still remains a challenge.
We are strengthening the capacity of Environmental Health Practitioners who
are responsible for compliance monitoring amongst many other duties.
Furthermore, the laboratories responsible for testing the fortified food
samples are also overburdened with other testing responsibilities. Having
identified these challenges, as government we are putting measures in place to
address these constraints. To this effect, a memorandum of understanding has
been developed with the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to monitor
compliance and stability of the fortification mixes. Discussions are also
underway to further improve the capacity for compliance monitoring by
Environmental Health Practitioners.
Providing assistance to the people, who are doing the actual fortification
particularly small and emerging millers, is vital to the success of the
programme of this kind. To that effect, Programme Director, ladies and
gentlemen, a once-off subsidy grant of R23 million has been made available by
government to assist millers to procure appropriate equipment. The process to
payout the subsidy grant is at an advance stage and should resume before the
end of the 2007/08 financial year.
We hope that the grant made available to millers will further strengthen
their commitment to the programme for the benefit of all South Africans. We are
going to honour our commitment as government to assist millers to comply with
fortification requirements. I hope that all millers will return the favour and
assist in delivering much needed nutrients to our people. The news about the
fixing of bread prices in the country was very disturbing to us in the
Department of Health.
We chose bread as a vehicle for the provision of necessary micronutrients
through the fortification programme because we understood that this was the
most consumed product in the country. Bread price fixing is therefore not just
a bad business practice, but it undermines access to bread for the poor. In
that way it deprives the very people who are highly affected by micronutrient
deficiencies of access to fortified bread. This practice has to be strongly
condemned and should never be allowed to happen again.
Programme Director, public education, awareness and communication have been
and continue to be the central pillars of this programme. Through innovative
and multimedia approaches, the public is made aware of the benefits of
consuming fortified foods. The awareness and education activities are an
integral aspect of our Healthy Lifestyle Campaign. I wish to appeal to members
of the industry in general to work with us in ensuring the spreading of the
health life style message.
We know that from our own experience and experiences of other developed and
developing countries that food fortification would make a major contribution in
reducing micronutrient deficiencies in the country. It is for this reason that
as government, and as South Africans we remain committed in ensuring the
sustainability of this programme by strengthening compliance monitoring and
public awareness and communication.
In conclusion, I wish once more to thank all collaborating partners for
working closely with us in advancing this programme and its intended outcomes.
And to members of the industry thank you for your support. This programme will
not just benefit us as individuals, but it is of great benefit to our children
and the future generations of this country.
Thank you very much.
Issued by: Department of Health
11 December 2007
Source: Department of Health (http://www.doh.gov.za)
