… NIFST, ISA call for science-based food reformulation, stronger local research By Chioma Obinna With an estimated 11.2 million Nigerians living with diabetes, food scientists and industry stakeholders have called for science-based measures to reduce sugar consumption without compromising food safety, quality or consumer choice. The stakeholders, under the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology, NIFST, and the International Sweeteners Association, ISA, also urged the Federal Government to strengthen local research, harmonise food additive regulations with global standards and improve public understanding of low- and no-calorie sweeteners. President of NIFST, Dr Bola Osinowo, who spoke at a two-day stakeholders’ conference on “Low- and No-Calorie Sweeteners in Nigeria: The Science and Safety,” said Nigeria was facing a severe rise in diet-related non-communicable diseases, particularly type 2 diabetes and obesity. Osinowo said clinical data indicated that between six million and 11.2 million Nigerian adults were living with diabetes, describing the disease as a major economic burden on households and the health system. According to him, the average Nigerian living with diabetes could spend between N20,000 and more than N150,000 monthly on insulin, blood glucose monitoring and clinical care. He said the challenge was compounded by a shortage of specialists, with fewer than 200 physician endocrinologists practising in the country. Osinowo said: “We cannot discuss the future of food formulation in Nigeria without addressing our current national public health and economic realities. “Nigeria is currently witnessing a severe rise in diet-related non-communicable diseases, most importantly type 2 diabetes and obesity.” He explained that as manufacturers increasingly turned to low- and no-calorie sweeteners, LNCS, to reduce sugar in foods and beverages, Nigeria needed a regulatory and scientific framework capable of supporting the transition. The NIFST president said approved LNCS had undergone decades of safety assessments by international bodies, including the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, JECFA, and the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA. He added that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, had established the Food Additives Regulations 2021 and Non-Nutritive Sweeteners in Food Products Regulations 2021. However, the stakeholders identified inadequate consumer knowledge, lack of national dietary intake data and technical challenges associated with food reformulation as major gaps Nigeria must address. They said studies conducted by Nigerian institutions showed that awareness of sweeteners was relatively high, reaching 73.5 per cent in some surveyed groups, but between 67 and 70.8 per cent of respondents had poor functional knowledge of their safety and health implications. The conference also cited research in Calabar Municipality showing that up to 58.1 per cent of young adults frequently consumed aspartame-sweetened carbonated drinks. The stakeholders said Nigeria currently lacked a coordinated national dietary database capable of monitoring sweetener consumption and modelling exposure levels across different population groups. They therefore called for longitudinal dietary surveys across the six geopolitical zones to generate local evidence for policy and regulation. On the industrial front, the stakeholders said the 10 per cent Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, SSB, tax, equivalent to N10 per litre, had encouraged manufacturers to reformulate products but created new technical challenges. They noted that replacing sugar in beverages involved more than reproducing sweetness, as manufacturers must also preserve bulk, mouthfeel, viscosity, sensory characteristics and shelf stability. The challenge, they said, was particularly significant in Nigeria because of hot and humid storage and distribution conditions. The conference consequently recommended stronger partnerships between food manufacturers, universities and research institutions to test sweetener blends and reformulated products under local environmental conditions. The stakeholders also called for coordinated risk-communication campaigns involving NIFST Academy, ISA and public health authorities to tackle misinformation and provide healthcare professionals and consumers with accessible, evidence-based information. They urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and relevant regulatory agencies to harmonise Nigeria’s food additive standards with the Codex Alimentarius and updated international safety evaluations. The conference further proposed a specialised food reformulation curriculum for industry research and development teams and the development of simplified sweetener safety fact sheets for medical and nutritio
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