Food policy, hygiene

• Food is any nutritious substance that people or animals consume or that plants absorb to provide the support needed to maintain life, body growth, and development
• Food consists of nutritious components such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, essential minerals, and vitamins that help in the sustenance of life, generation of energy, growth maintenance, and a healthy body
• Food Policy is a mechanism by which related matters are addressed or administered by Government, International bodies or network, public institutions, and private organizations to ensure adequate provision of food to all citizens, especially vulnerable groups like children, elderly, poor, and physically challenged individuals
• Food and Nutrition Policy addresses national economic concerns, social safety nets, private enterprise investment into food provision, agricultural innovations, farm subsidy programs, and nutritional food assistance for families and individuals living in poverty
• Assumptions underlying Food & Nutrition Policy:

  • Nutrition problems affect health & quality of life
  • Problems can be sufficiently identified and quantified
  • Food policies directly affect nutrition but often fail to integrate nutrition priorities explicitly
  • Nutrition priorities need to be on the national policy agenda
  • Food & nutrition policies, when implemented, can safely improve nutrition in populations
• The "5 Ws" of Policymaking:

  • What is the nutritional condition and how severe is it?
  • Who has it? (at-risk)
  • Where is the problem of public health importance?
  • When does it occur?
  • Why does it occur?
• Elements of an ideal Food & Nutrition Policy:

  • Clear statement of goals
  • Quantifiable benchmarks
  • Orderly, well-defined process
  • Sufficient funding to implement
  • Stakeholder recognition, cooperation, and defined expectations
  • Evaluation process
• National Food and Nutrition Policy:

  • Nigeria has evolved from one Food Policy to another, with the latest being the National Food and Nutrition Policy 2016
  • The policy is designed to address problems of food and nutrition in Nigeria at individual, household, community, and national levels
  • It harmonizes various other policies developed by different sectors towards addressing food insecurity challenges in the country
• 2016 National Food and Nutrition Policy Guiding Principles:

  • Prioritization of poverty reduction and safety nets for the poor in government budgetary allocations
  • Recognition of adequate food and nutrition as a human right
  • Gender considerations and needs of vulnerable groups integral to all components
  • Utilization of partnership and stakeholder network for implementation
  • Reduction of malnutrition through high impact and low-cost interventions
• 2016 National Food and Nutrition Policy Vision Statement:

  • To have a country where people are equitably food and nutrition-secure with high quality of life contributing to human capital development objectives
• 2016 National Food and Nutrition Policy Goal:

  • To attain optimal nutritional status for all Nigerians, with emphasis on vulnerable groups like children, adolescents, women, elderly, and those with special nutritional needs
• 2016 National Food and Nutrition Policy Objectives:

  • Improve food security at national, community, and household levels
  • Reduce undernutrition among infants, children, adolescents, and women
  • Significantly reduce micronutrient deficiency disorders
  • Increase nutrition knowledge among the populace
  • Promote optimum nutrition for people in difficult circumstances
• • Increase access to potable water
  • Increase relevant MDAs with functional nutrition units
  • Reduce malnutrition among victims of emergencies
  • Mainstream nutrition objectives into social protection and safety net programs
• 2016 National Food and Nutrition Policy Targets:

  • Reduce hunger and malnutrition by 50% by 2025
  • Increase exclusive breastfeeding rate
  • Increase appropriate complementary feeding
  • Reduce stunting rate among under-five children
  • Reduce childhood wasting
  • Achieve universal household access to iodized salt
  • Increase coverage of Zinc supplementation
  • Increase deworming tablets coverage
  • Reduce anemia among pregnant women
  • Reduce prevalence of non-communicable diseases
  • Increase coverage of Vitamin A supplementation
  • Increase households with relevant nutrition knowledge and practice
• Food Hygiene is the process, condition, and measures necessary to ensure the safety of food from production to consumption, i.e. from farm to fork
• Food can become contaminated at any point from harvesting/slaughtering, processing, storage, distribution, transportation, preparation, consumption
• Food hygiene helps maintain food safety, control hazards, and ensure food stuffs are fit for human consumption
• Important steps in ensuring Food Hygiene and Safety include:

  • Personal hygiene of food handlers at any level
  • Refrigeration of food
  • Thorough washing of fruits and vegetables
  • Storage of raw and cooked food separately
  • Usage of appropriate and clean kitchen utensils
  • Adequate cooking of food at appropriate temperature
  • Use of clean water for cooking and other usage at the kitchen
• Important steps in ensuring Food Hygiene and Safety include:

  • Personal hygiene of food handlers at any level
  • Refrigeration of food
  • Thorough washing of fruits and vegetables
  • Storage of raw and cooked food separately
  • Usage of appropriate and clean kitchen utensils
  • Adequate cooking of food at appropriate temperature
  • Use of clean water for cooking and other usage at the kitchen
• Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Process (HACCP) is a systemic approach to the identification and control of hazards (microbiological, chemical, and physical) that could pose danger to the preparation of safe food
• Food Toxicology studies how natural and synthetic poisons and toxicants in diverse food products cause harmful, detrimental, or adverse effects on consumers
• Additional steps in ensuring Food Hygiene and Safety include:

  • Use of aprons, head covers, face masks, hand gloves by food handlers
  • Routine physical examinations for hand cellulitis/sores, skin lesions, nasal/eye discharges
  • Inspection of kitchen and cooking site for cleanliness, source of water supply, waste disposal system
  • Avoiding coughing and sneezing over food
  • Keeping fingernails short
  • Washing and drying hands thoroughly before and after handling food
  • Avoiding handling food when unwell
  • Correct hand washing with soaps
  • Avoiding handling food when sick
• Contamination of food can be man-made through pesticides residue, food additives, machinery products, packaging materials, etc. It can also be natural through microbes, animals, and plant toxins
• Natural contaminants in food include microbial toxins, which degrade food components enzymatically and can lead to spoilage
• Bacterial toxins can be classified into subunit toxins, membrane-affecting toxins, lesion-causing toxins, and immuno-active endotoxins
• Toxin by Clostridium (C. botulinum) is heat sensitive, acid resistant, and survives gastric passages. It grows at pH>4.6 and is found in meat, fish, and food with low-neutral pH
• Toxin by S. aureus is heat resistant, grows at 7-46 oC, pH 4-9, and is found in dairy cream, ice cream, cured meat, and canned food
• Toxin by C. perfringens, B. cereus is heat sensitive, found in meat, canned foods, and is prevented by proper storage, personal hygiene, and heating above 65 oC
• Toxin by Gram-negative bacteria (LPS) causes inflammation and is found in any type of food, prevented by proper storage, personal hygiene, and avoiding cross-contamination
• Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi, stable, and resistant to cooking. Aflatoxins are embryotoxic and teratogenic, with high doses causing abnormalities
• Mercury, lead, and cadmium are heavy metals that can contaminate food, causing various health issues