Wednesday, May 07, 2008 Food fortification body conducts strict monitoring
GIVEN enough time to adjust and prepare for the full implementation of the iron fortification law for rice, the Task Force Food Fortification sees no more reason for the different establishments not to comply with the law.
"This has been approved since 2000 and it is targeted for full implementation in 2004. However, we still see some establishments that are not yet following the law," said Boy Rallos, representative of TF Food Fortification.
The task force monitoring team conducts a weekly inspection of big food outlets in the city and it is through the regular inspection that the team concluded a high rate of compliance especially on the part of large outlets.
"We strictly follow the law by giving an outlet with a ticket if we find out that they are not complying. After a week or two, they would call us again and inform us that they have already started implementing food fortification." Rallos said.
The team has also identified some major problems that hindered the full implementation of the law.
One of which is the difficulty experienced by the National Food Authority (NFA) in fortifying its rice supply. This is due to the lack of technology and manpower needed for fortification.
The NFA committed to fully implementing fortification by year 2004.
However, it turned out it was also during that year that it released a statement reporting its difficulty in complying with the full implementation.
"They claimed that only 60 percent of the NFA rice supply is fortified," said Rallos.
However, the agency could not answer as to where this percentage was distributed.
City Councilor Peter Laviña, on the other hand, commented that full implementation on the part of the private sector would most likely not happen especially when the national government could not even abide fully with the law.
The Task Force Food Fortification recommended a review of the law to make it implementable in the local level.
Rallos suggested that a study of its details is needed for a better and efficient food fortification law.
