Bread with vitamins from January 2012
05/12/2011 00:00
The Washington Agreement Must Be Reactivated! 06/01 19:04
By January, all flour factories will launch in the market only flour
that will be enriched with folic acid, zinc, vitamins B6 and B12.
The Food Control Authority will focus in 20 big factories in the country that cover 60% of the market, even small capacity factories.
“There are three types of different tests that can verify if the flour has been enriched. One is tested in the border, through an acid that verifies if the flour is fortified. The fortification level, based on the requests of the law, will be held in local labs or the central one. The Albanian flour is prepared for bread right in the factory. All elements are added when it is processed”, says Rezart Kthupi, from the Food Control Authority.
This was a request of the Ministry of Health and the WHO, aiming to increase the anemic numbers, since 30% of the population results anemic due to bad nurturing.
According to the Public Health Institution, 19% of the children younger than 5 years of age have insufficient growth, overweight or other problems. The Albanians consume 360 grams per day, and the increase of micro-substances has a lower cost than taking these vitamins separately.
The experts calculate that anemic treatment in Albania costs 20 million USD, for the lack of iron. The cost for enriching flour with these substances is 1 million per year. Our country has 194 flour factories that will be obliged to add these micro-substances to the flour.
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