Posted Jan 29, 2011
The Indonesian government will implement mandatory Vitamin A enrichment of locally produced cooking oil as part of its efforts to eliminate Vitamin A deficiency, a senior official says.
Deputy agriculture minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said that Vitamin A deficiency had emerged as a serious health problem in Indonesia, as it contributed significantly to pregnancy risks and infant mortality.
“Amid the widespread deficiency, the risks to children and pregnant women can be reduced through provision of sufficient Vitamin A,” Bayu said on the sidelines of a discussion on nutrition.
Bayu said the government would implement a mandatory Vitamin A enrichment policy for local cooking oil producers in stages.
“It would involve the private sector, especially domestic cooking oil producers,” he said.
Few local cooking oil producers have voluntarily implemented Vitamin A enrichment.
Bayu said the government, however, would make the enrichment mandatory once various existing problems were resolved.
Vitamin A supplements, for example, are still been imported because the technology for fortifying vegetable oil with Vitamin A has not been well-established.
The Indonesian Fortification Coalition (KFI) stated nutrition enrichment, also known as food fortification, can be implemented using various substances such as salt, cooking oil, wheat flour, sugar and rice. Vitamin A fortification reportedly can only use four food vehicles: Cooking oil, sugar, wheat flour and Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).
Sukirman, a nutrition professor at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) School of Human Ecology said cooking oil was the best vehicle for Vitamin A fortification because the stability of Vitamin A in oil was greater than other food vehicles, such as flour or sugar.
“Vitamin A is relatively stable for food processing,” he said.
Citing an example, he said that lasuna bread fried three times between 160 -170 Celcius for six minutes would have a Vitamin A retention of between 63 and 83 per cent, while bakwan (traditional dish) fried three times would have a Vitamin A retention of between 61.5 to 70.6 per cent.
Oil storage in a tightly closed bottle will have a Vitamin A retention about 94.6 per cent.
Vitamin A deficiency has negatively affect populations worldwide because it may reduce childhood intelligence and human immune resistance, impeding a person¡¯s productivity and contribution to vibrant economic growth.
Around nine million children aged under-five in Indonesia suffer from Vitamin A deficiency, in addition to one million fertile-aged women.
Sahat Sinaga of the Indonesian Vegetable Oil Producers Association (GIMNI) said that cooking oil producers were ready to carry out mandatory Vitamin A enrichment and the process would not significantly affect production costs.
“It would only add Rp 50 (0.006 US cents) per kilogram of processed cooking oil,” he said.
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) senior director Regina Moench-Pfanner said food fortification would prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies without people having to change their diet.
“Basically, we have to look at the economic terms. If you want to have healthy people, healthy workers, sound productivity and a healthy economy, you should have balanced diets. Fortification is the most appropriate way to achieve this,” she said.
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