Unlike the decades-old blend that consists of mainly two parts of food grains and another two parts of beans, the new assortment is a mixture of a part of corn, a part of wheat and a part of soybean. The new mixture of Super Flour, as nutrition officials expect, will be slightly cheaper, thereby even more popular, than the older one. “The new mixture will hopefully soon displace the older one,” says Raj Kumar Pokharel, head of Nutrition Section at DoHS. [break]
According to Pokharel, children will find the new Super Flour easy to digest as only one third of its mixture contains beans. “About 33 per cent soybean in a mixture of nutritious food is good for giving protein to children,” Pokharel says. “Moreover, fewer beans in a composite nutritious food mean children will not suffer from oral dehydration.”
In the existing mixture of nutritious food, 50 per cent of the blend solely consists of beans, which children under five years of age find slightly unpalatable. “Infants cannot easily gulp nutritious food which contains as much as 50 per cent beans,” says Lila Bikram Thapa, a nutrition official at DoHS.
DoHS’ preparation for overhauling the composite of Super Flour for children comes in the face of recommendations by the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC). The country’s sole agency responsible for determining the food quality has recommended DoHS to introduce a new mixture of grains and beans for Super Flour after assessing the outcome of its six months research.
Unlike the decades-old blend that consists of mainly two parts of food grains and another two parts of beans, the new assortment is a mixture of a part of corn, a part of wheat and a part of soybean.
In its recent research conducted among 300 children under five years of age at the Bal Mandir, DFTQC had introduced six different blends of food grains and beans during a period of six months. Of the six different blends, DoFTQC found a mixture of corns, wheat and soybeans best for protecting children from malnourishment. “Not only did we find flour of corn, wheat and soybean popular among children, it was the best nutritious food for children’s growth,” sums up Pramod Koirala, senior research officer at DFTQC.
According to Pokhrel, Nutrition Section at DoHS will go for the nutritious flour of corns, wheat and soybeans once DFTQC hands over the detailed report of its research. “At a time when prices of beans are skyrocketing by the day, the new blend that contains fewer beans will be widely accepted,” Pokharel says.
Of late, the World Food Program (WFP), with assistance of the government, has been distributing Super Flour in nine food-deficit districts. Besides, the government has long been carrying out different programs to raise awareness about nutritious flour. “Our program as well as that of the WFP will opt for the new nutritious flour,” Pokharel says.
At present, 39 per cent of Nepali children below five years of age are underweight, owing to lack of adequate nutritious food. Likewise, 40 per cent of children are not tall as per their age. Most of the malnourished children are in mid and far western regions. Kalikot leads the districts with over 10 per cent malnourished children.
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