Stakeholders in the country’s food system, have renewed calls for stronger laboratory capacity, improved premix testing, and tighter industry compliance to safeguard the quality of fortified foods across the country.
The call was made at the 2025 National Fortification Alliance (NFA) meeting held recently in Lagos, and attended by representatives from government ministries, regulatory agencies, development partners, industry groups, academia, civil society, and the media.
Hosted by the NFA in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Helen Keller International (HKI) and TechnoServe, the meeting reviewed national progress in the fortification of widely consumed foods such as sugar, flour, vegetable oil, salt, and rice, key vehicles used to combat micronutrient deficiencies affecting millions of Nigerians.
Fred Chiazor, NFA chairman, in his opening speech, stressed that Nigeria’s large-scale food fortification programme cannot succeed without accurate, reliable, and harmonized laboratory testing.
“Accurate premix and micronutrient testing is the backbone of fortification compliance. Stakeholders cannot improve what they cannot reliably measure,” he said.
He noted that manufacturers continue to face challenges with expired or unreliable testing devices, inconsistent laboratory results, rising premix costs, and the uncontrolled sale of unfortified sugar in small nylon packs across informal markets.
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Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of NAFDAC reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to strengthening regulatory oversight and ensuring that fortified foods meet national standards.
Adeyeye, who was represented by an executive from the agency, explained that NAFDAC updated the Food Fortification Regulations in 2021 to support the Federal Government’s push to expand fortification coverage.
“Building strong local laboratory systems is essential. Nigeria must reduce its dependence on overseas laboratories and ensure that manufacturers and regulators can verify micronutrient levels locally,” she said.
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) presented its compliance monitoring report for January to October 2025, showing generally strong iron fortification in flour, but significant variation in Vitamin A levels in sugar and vegetable oil samples collected nationwide.
SON highlighted gaps in factory-level quality assurance, poor dosing control, and unreliable internal testing processes in several facilities.
Both SON and NAFDAC committed to scaling up monitoring of imported fortified products, noting that some imported vegetable oil brands on the market fail to meet Nigerian standards.
Also, development partners shared updates on ongoing efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s fortification ecosystem.
GAIN highlighted significant progress in the rollout of the Digital Fortification Quality Traceability Plus (DFQT+) system, which allows edible oil producers to share real-time fortification data with regulators.
The organisation also reported on recent media engagement initiatives, town hall meetings in Abia, Kano, and Lagos, and national-level policy advocacy with members of the National Assembly.
TechnoServe presented updates from the Promoting Rice Fortification in Nigeria (PRIFN) and West Africa Fortified Unpolished Rice (WAFPUR) projects, noting that five rice millers have been supported with blenders and technical assistance to begin producing fortified rice.
Fortified Rice Kernels (FRKs) supplied to millers are undergoing quality checks by SON to ensure full compliance with Nigerian industrial standards. Stakeholders, however, requested a consolidated update on all rice fortification activities at the next NFA meeting.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (Nutrition Department) provided further updates from its engagement with the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), including plans to establish a national reference laboratory for micronutrient testing, strengthen the functionality of NAFDAC’s Lagos and Maiduguri laboratories, expand local premix production, and advance industrial-scale production of complementary foods such as Tom Brown and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF).
During discussions, stakeholders also raised concern about laboratory inconsistencies across the country.
Manufacturers reported that many iCheck Vitamin A analyzers currently in use are expired, while premix suppliers noted difficulties including higher import tariffs due to reclassification by the Nigeria Customs Service.
In response, the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria (IPAN) was tasked with conducting a full audit of all eight approved micronutrient laboratories in Nigeria and presenting the findings at the next NFA meeting.
The meeting concluded with several strategic commitments, including strengthened engagement between regulators and sugar producers, reactivation of the NFA WhatsApp group for real-time coordination, expanded enforcement of fortified imports, and a renewed push for consumer awareness on how to identify properly fortified sugar and other fortified foods.
In his closing remarks, Chiazor emphasised that ensuring the quality of fortified foods is a shared responsibility.
“Every stakeholder—industry, regulators, development partners, must work collectively to ensure that Nigerians consume foods that are safe, nutritious, and adequately fortified,” he noted.
He added that the Alliance will continue to prioritise transparency, data-driven monitoring, and accountability as Nigeria works to eliminate micronutrient deficiencies nationwide.
