The Nigerian food industry has peculiar regulations and
requirements that are put in place to ensure safety, ensure the nation enjoys
proper nutrition and sometimes simply to guide consumers on how to identify
good products in the market. One of such regulation is the fortification of oil
and flower products which has been made compulsory and all producers of such
products are not just only to fortify but also to indicate with the eye symbol
that the product is fortified with the supplement.
Yes Vitamin A is required so much for the body but let us
leave the nutrition aspect and talk about the safety aspect involved. The fortificant
is costly and it means any producer going that extra mile to ensure they put
vitamin A in their oil would have done everything possible to also ensure the
quality of the product is good enough for consumption. This is one of the
reasons you can trust the Nigerian branded oils to be of great quality and safe
to use.
However, since the cost of fortification is high, the prices
of Nigerian produced oils may be slightly higher than the ones brought in from
other countries and as such, some Nigerians in a bid to be in business bring in
this products to sell in the Nigerian food space.
No matter where the oil is coming from, if you cannot see
the Nigerian regulation fulfilled on the labeling, please do not buy or consume
such oil, they may just not be safe especially not fit for use. The vegetable
oil is usually produced through a bleaching process, removing most useful
nutritive constituent and this is exactly why Nigeria has made provision for re-addition
of the lost nutrients through fortification. So if you buy the products from
other sources, you are doing yourself a disadvantage.
Most cheap foreign oils are not safe as they contain saturated
fat and that is why you find them solidify at room temperature, a pointer to an
unhealthy food. Good oil in the natural state should not solidify at all, oils
that solidify are bad for the body, they hurt the heart, accumulates
cholesterol and could make you add unnecessary weight with unhealthy skin. Many
of the brands imported contains no real nutritive value and will also add unnecessary
fat to your body. These products also give unnecessary smoke and smell when being used. They give food cooked with it a thicker feel,taste, look and can leave a fatty remnant in the upper part of your mouth.
For every oil produced in Nigeria, the regulation requires
that it should be fortified with Vitamin A, this is usually indicated with an
eye logo on the labeling of the product. Absence of this logo means you may not
be getting value for your money and potentially putting your health at a big
risk of accumulated saturated fat within your system.
If you want to be sure, please buy Nigerian made oil with
the eye logo symbol, you definitely are making a safe healthy choice that way.
Comments
Post a Comment