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Food fortification test has gone digital with
industrialists switching to the use of iCheck test kit to measure
micronutrients in food.
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The device, which is a product of Germany analytics company
BioAnalyt, gives rapid results than the reference method that requires
complex logistics.
“This means you minimise on costs of setting up a
massive testing plant to just a small device,” said Anna Zhenchuk, a
technical manager at BioAnalyt.
The device can test for iron, Vitamin A, iodine,
carotene and zinc in various foods, including flours, cooking oils, milk
and salt. In November last year, the Global Alliance for Improved
Nutrition (GAIN) partnered with BioAnalyt to become the primary
distributor of the iCheck kit.
Together, the two organisations aim at improving
the quality of fortified foods for more than 700 million individuals
globally over a period of two years.
Last week, GAIN donated 20 iCheck devices worth
Sh11.5 million to millers in the country, including Unga Limited,
Eldoret Grains Limited, Kitui Flour Mills and Consumer Information
Network.
The millers will be able to test the quality and
quantity of the raw material (vitamin premix) as well as the final
enriched product on site.
Companies can now use the kit to monitor the progress of food fortification.
Companies can now use the kit to monitor the progress of food fortification.
The Ministry of Health identified food
fortification as a feasible and affordable approach towards controlling
micronutrient deficiency in Kenya. There is a law that requires millers
and oil manufacturers to include essential micronutrients in their
industrial processes.
The Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act of
2012, requires that all packaged wheat and maize flour be fortified and
conform to specific food requirements.
However, only 30 per cent of maize millers in the
country have complied with the law while 180 wheat flour brands have
certification from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs).
As a monitoring authority, Kebs will use the test
kits for first line testing at ports and borders as well as routine food
monitoring in areas where lab facilities are lacking.
“We want to boost fortification of wheat and maize
flour since micronutrient deficiency is a serious problem in Kenya,”
said GAIN country director Adan Kabelo.
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