Fortification of oil, sugar, salt and wheat and maize flour is mandatory in Malawi. This means that food control authorities will have to ensure that industry is compliant with the fortification regulations and that there are appreciable levels of nutrients in staple foods on the market. During the week of 10th to 14th September 2018, the Malawian Ministry of Health (MoH) with support from GAIN/ENABLE organized a capacity building workshop for personnel at border sites and for quality officers. The objective was to update these officers on the need to control importation of identified foods that are under the country’s food fortification scheme. The training took place at three locations namely the Mwanza border post, Bureau of Standards (Blantyre), and Dedza border post. BioAnalyt’s Technical Director, Holly McKee was there to train these officers on the procedures for using the iCheck devices in the fortification program. The training covered the key components of food fortification monitoring, and hands-on training for testing vitamin A in oil, flour and sugar as well as iron in flour. The iCheck test kits for micronutrients are simple, cost-effective and easy-to-use methods for determining micronutrients in foods.

The training effectively demonstrated that the participants and users of the iCheck test kits can perform accurate analysis of vitamin A in oil, vitamin A in flour and sugar, and iron in flour. All the participants evaluated the training as very good or good. Feedback from the participants showed that the challenges they faced in food testing had been addressed by the training. It was thus recommended at the end of the training that a follow-up or refresher training be done in 2019.

If you will like to have unlimited support or training on food-fortification monitoring, food and feed quality, understanding standards, micronutrients testing, and interpreting results please contact BioAnalyt. We give continuous technical support through demos and trainings in-person, e-mails, over the phone or via video conference (e.g. Skype). You may reach us on our WhatsApp number (+491625837730) for instant support to all your questions.

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