40% Of Wheat Flour, 60% Of Maize Flour Not Fortified In Kenya

Around 40 percent of wheat flour and almost 60 percent of maize flour consumed in Kenya is not consistently fortified and thus does not comply with the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) standards exposing Kenyan to major health risks.

The continuous sale of unfortified flour on the Kenyan market has direct implications for the government’s food fortification and safety agenda, as embedded in the Kenya National Food Fortification Programme.

According to the World Bank, malnutrition is one of the world’s most serious but least addressed development challenges.

The economic costs of undernutrition, in terms of lost national productivity and economic growth, are significant – ranging from 2 to 3% of GDP in some countries, and up to 11 percent of GDP in Africa and Asia each year.

Kenya’s adult population faces a malnutrition burden. 27.2 percent of women of reproductive age have anemia and the national prevalence of under-five stunting is 26.2 percent, which is greater than the developing country average of 25 percent.

In April 2017, the Government of Kenya unveiled a six-year partnership between the Ministry of Health and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), as well as private sector partners to strengthen and address gaps in food fortification.

The partnership, namely KNFFP, seeks to combat malnutrition by adding vitamins and minerals to maize flour, edible oils, and salt. It also aims to strengthen the capacity of cereal millers to deliver micronutrient-rich staple foods to target populations, particularly women, girls, and children who are most vulnerable to malnutrition.

KNFFP was designed to complement ongoing initiatives – such as those by US non-profit organization TechnoServe under the Strengthening African Processors of Fortified Foods Programme (SAPFF), overviewed in the section below – to boost the nutrition status in the country in line with World Health Organisation recommendations.

The aim is to improve the capacity of manufacturers to fortify maize flour and other staples consumed by poor households where the levels of malnutrition are higher. It is, therefore, clear that food fortification (with vitamins and minerals) is a matter of great public interest in Kenya.

In support of the Kenyan government’s efforts towards improving food fortification and as part of its SAPFF Initiative, TechnoServe undertook a baseline study to gauge the nutritional compliance of staple foods – wheat and maize flour.

The study measured the levels of vitamins and minerals (known as micronutrients) for these products available on the local market and compared them to the National Standards for fortified maize and wheat flour issued by Kenya
Bureau of Standards (KEBS).

Fortification is achieved by flour millers by incorporating a mix of micronutrients (premix) during the milling of maize and wheat. The nutritional quality of the flour is thus directly linked to the quality of the premix used and the quantity added to flour during milling.

TechnoServe observed chronically lower levels of vitamins and minerals compared to what is required by the standards that would lead to the country not achieving the desired health benefits for consumers.

TechnoServe, as part of its mandate under SAPFF, conducted a further assessment to determine whether the premixes added to the wheat and maize flour met the fortification requirements set out by KEBS.

The assessment found that premix manufactured by South African company Nutrifix Technologies (Pty) Ltd under the brand name Nutrivit was consistently non-compliant. Nutrivit is supplied in Kenya by Amesi (K) Ltd.

It is estimated that the latter supplies almost a fifth of Kenya’s premix market based on production estimates of companies using Nutrivit.

The specifications for wheat and maize flour are contained in the Kenya Standard KES EAS 767:2012 (Fortified Wheat Flour – Specification) (the “Wheat Standards”) and the Kenya Standard KES EAS 768:2012 (Fortified Milled Maize (Corn) Products – Specification) (the “Maize Standards”) (together with the “Standards”).

The Standards are developed by KEBS and declared by the National Standards Council (the “Standards Council”) in accordance with the provisions of the Standards Act (Cap. 496) (the “Standards Act”).

The Standards stipulate the minimum micronutrient levels of the essential nutrients that should be added to wheat and maize flour within the levels defined therein. Furthermore, the specifications for the premix that should be utilized in the fortification of both wheat and maize flour are also set out in the respective Standards.

The Food, Drugs, and Chemical Substances (Food Labelling, Additives and Standards) Regulations, 1978 (the “FDCS Regulations”) was amended through Legal Notice No. 62 of 2012 to include the mandatory fortification of maize and wheat flour with specific vitamins and minerals.

Accordingly, Regulation 249(2) of the FDCS Regulations on the standards of enriched flour (wheat flour) now provides: “packaged wheat flour shall be fortified and conform to the flour fortification requirements specified in the Kenya Standard for fortified wheat flour KS EAS 767”.

Further, Regulation 253(3) on standards of maize meal also provides: “packaged dry milled maize products shall be fortified and conform to the flour fortification requirements specified in the Kenya Standard for fortified milled maize products KS EAS 768”.