Accra, June 21, GNA – Nestle, world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company, has launched a newly improved brand of the Maggi shrimp tablet in Ghana, which has been fortified with iron to help improve the health status of consumers.
The introduction of iron to Maggi shrimp tablets was mainly to aid the fight against iron deficiency diseases in the country and to boost haemoglobin or give blood to consumers.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Nii Lante Vanderpuye, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, congratulated Nestle for introducing innovations into its activities and urged other enterprises to follow suit.
‘I am very happy that Nestle through research, detected the effect of lack of iron on the people and had taken the needed measures to fortify its products with the nutrient’, he said.
The Deputy Minister said the addition of iron to maggi would help cramp down on anaemia (which is caused by lack of iodine in the body) that had become prevalent among people in the country.
He urged Nestle to massively promote the use of the product and educate Ghanaians, especially those in the rural areas on the effects of lack of adequate iron in their diets.
Dr Gloria Otoo, Lecturer at the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, cited iron as the most abundant mineral on earth as it was found in both animal and plant foods and appealed to people to take advantage of it.
She said more than two billion people in the world suffer from anaemia, adding that in Ghana about 59 per cent of women of child bearing age suffer from iron deficiency.
‘This is one of the main reasons accounting for maternal mortality in women and stunted growth among children in the country’, she said.
She said in Ghana, the overall prevalence of iron deficiency or anaemia among people was about 70 per cent, adding that the statistics had remained static for over twenty years.
She mentioned fatigue, stunted growth, infant mortality, and increased risk of premature delivery as some of the effects of lack of iron or anaemia.
‘Iron in our meals makes children smarter, reduces low birth rate and also helps children survive their fifth birthdays’, she added.
Mr Moataz El Hout, Country Manager of Nestle said the introduction of maggi fortified with iron unto the market showed the commitment of the company towards the fight against micro nutrients deficiency among children.
‘Nestle is ready to give the best of products to its consumers across the country and the world over as it was a multinational company’, he added.
Mr Jean Pierre Duplan, Brand Manager for the Maggi shrimp tablet at the Nestle Ghana Limited, noted that due to hard work, Maggi had now been recognised as the number one seasoning brand in the country.
He said all ingredients used in the production of maggi products such as the chicken tablet and maggi mixpy had all been approved by the Food and Drugs Authority.
He said Nestle produced 6.4 million tablets a day due to the high consumption of maggi shrimp tablets in Ghana,
GNA