FSSAI issues warning to nutraceutical companies in Himachal Pradesh
On 3rd September 2020 from 1100-1230hrs
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is organizing an interactive session in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme and DSM on “Tackling the impact of CoVID-19 on micronutrient deficiencies through food fortification ” on 3rd September 2020 from 1100-1230hrs.
With the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), dual impact of food system disruptions combined with a steep economic downturn is a “historic setback” for nutrition. The global pandemic has exposed and exacerbated failings within food and health systems and added urgency to the need to advance the nutrition agenda, though also placed its progression at risk as the importance of nutrition risks being lost in the immediacy of health and economic threats.
But left unchecked, the looming nutrition crisis threatens to exacerbate health system burdens, delay economic recovery, lead to more loss of life and cause a health and development crisis that impacts a generation of children throughout their life. Furthermore, the UN Secretary General policy brief warns that without large-scale coordinated action the threat to food systems could result in global health and nutrition crisis of a severity unseen for half a century.
While the COVID-19 pandemic poses a new and unprecedented global challenge, the solutions to prevent the impeding threat of malnutrition are not new. Disruptions to food systems due to COVID-19 are expected to negatively affect access to fresh and perishable foods due to farmers’ inability to produce or distribute, resulting in less diversity of nutrient-rich foods on the market. The population would rely on non-perishable, shelf-stable foods, which are a poor source of micronutrients.
To overcome the challenge, Staple Food Fortification can be a critical public health strategy to ensure that population, including the most vulnerable, have access to essential micronutrients.
Understanding and adopting the strategy of Staple Food Fortification is more important now than ever, and therefore we are organizing an interactive session to provide a platform to discuss, share and debate on the role of Staple Food Fortification during these challenging times.