Members of the Standards and Quality Agency, known by its French acronym as ANOR, began a nation-wide revision of the quality standards of refined vegetable oils and wheat flour in the country. This was during a workshop last Friday at the Douala SAWA Hotel. Stakeholders from the Littoral and South West Regions sought common standards for the food staple. The agency expects to make a tour of the markets during which these basic products will be collected and analysed for Vitamin A and minerals like iron. Producers, and the business public as well as consumers will be sensitised on what food quality is good for their health.
The Deputy Director General of ANOR, Andely Chantal, said despite abundant food production, the country suffers from insufficient nutrients especially Vitamine A and minerals. “The consequences of these nutrients deficit are not always visible externally and so victims do not realise the negative effects of their absence. To fight this situation, government has partnered with UNICEF and Helen Keller International to improve on the vitamins and mineral contents of foods in the country,” she explained.
Of the four most important staple foods – sugar, magi cube, oils and flour – in the country, refined vegetable oils and flour from wheat were tackled for quality improvement during this pilot phase of the quality control programme. For example, vitamin A and iron are often wanting in their right proportions in these foods widely and intensively consumed in Cameroon. Such quality concerns made necessary the need to carry out studies on the food staples, the results of which were being revised over the week end in Douala. ANOR is a public administration created by Presidential decree of No. 2009/296/ of September 17, 2009.
