F N R ID I G E S TS u p p l e m e n t

The Official Publication of the Food and Nutrition Research InstituteJuly 2012 65th Anniversary Edition ISSN 0166-2985

FNRI @ 65, Priming the Path on Food and Nutrition R&D and S&T Activities

Divorah V. Aguila, FNRI-DOST S&T Media Service

Marking its 65th year of dedicated service to the people, the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology continues to shine as the country’s lead agency in food and nutrition research and development.

The Institute periodically conducts nationwide nutrition surveys, develops nutritious, safe and affordable food products and transfers these technologies to various stakeholders for commercial production. The FNRI also disseminates food and nutrition information toward improving the nutritional health of Filipinos while providing economic opportunities to stakeholders.

The Problem

The 2011 data affirmed global evidence that the country is also facing the double burden of malnutrition, which refers to the existence of both undernutrition and overweight. Overweight and obesity lead to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart diseases, hypertension and stroke, certain types of cancer and other related conditions.

Four in every 100 Filipino children, 0-5 years old, are overweight. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in this group, though still low, has been steadily increasing for the past two decades. Eight in every 100 Filipino children 6-10 years old are overweight. Deficiencies of essential micronutrients such as vitamin A affect 15 out of 100 children aged 6 months to 5 years. In the same age group, 55 out of 100 children suffer from iron-deficiency

continued on page 2

I n s i d e

FNRI, Nestle partnerfor NutritionSchool.ph p. 4

Nutritional Status of Children in Relationto Socio-econimicStatus p. 4

The FNRI-DOST recognizes that nutrition is critical for health and development. Better nutrition leads to improved infant, child and maternal health, stronger immune systems, safer pregnancy and childbirth, lower risk of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and obesity, etc.

In the Philippines, malnutrition seldom makes the headlines, yet it continues to be one of the country’s major health problems. According to FNRI data in 2011, among the 0-5 year old children, 2 in every ten children are underweight (kulang sa timbang), 3 in every ten in this age group are stunted (bansot), while 7 in every 100 children are wasted or thin (payat). Among 6-10 year olds, 3 in every ten children are underweight with the same proportion too of stunting. Nine out of 100 are wasted or thin.

anemia. These nutritional deficiencies impair children’s physical and mental development, and reduce their resistance to infections and survival rates, curtail their future intellectual and reproductive performance and economic productivity. The damages are largely irreversible unless addressed early in life. These are also a threat to the long-term economic development of the Philippines.

Along with the problems of malnutrition, hunger and poverty persist in the country. Hunger is a form of food insecurity which if prolonged, can lead to malnutrition. It is also a development issue hindering economic growth.

Yet despite these problems, in 2008 rice wastage in the country was estimated at 9 grams per capita per day. This can be translated to 814.6 metric tons of

rice or an equivalent monetary value of Php 23,933,676.65 daily losses for the entire country. Continued and increasing rice wastage and demand for polished rice could lead to the swelling rice shortage in the country. Recent research findings have shown that even temporary food shortages can produce adverse long-term consequences such as inadequate nutrition. Inadequate nutrition, in turn, can impair cognitive development and is associated with educational failure among impoverished children and decreased productivity among adults.

Given this scenario, the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) may be hard to reach if program implementation will not be enhanced. The poorest of the poor are hard to reach with these programs. They are located in remote rural areas farthest from roads, markets, schools and health services. They are people with few assets, low education and no access to credit. Thus, there is an urgent call to extend the benefits of research and technology to resource-poor areas where many of the poor converge.

The Solution/Our Commitment

in Pasig showed very significant decline in anemia prevalence from 100% to 33%. Likewise, in Orion, Bataan where rice was sold in the public market and barangay sari-sari stores, significant reduction in anemia rate among children was noted.

3. R&D on brown rice

Brown rice, the unmilled or unpolished form of rice, can partly solve the problem of rice shortage and lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes. Production of brown rice may reduce the power demand needed in polishing and whitening rice. Considering the higher recovery rate of brown rice milling compared to that of white rice, consumption of brown rice by Filipinos may reduce national rice importation. Thus, it may help reduce rice shortage in the country. However, brown rice is not stable and easily gets rancid after 3-4 months of storage due to its lipase content.

4. Nutrigenomics

The Institute commits to come up with alternative solutions to address lifestyle-related diseases by applying nutrigenomics. Nutrigenomics, the study of molecular relationships between nutrition (diet/food) and the response of genes, has the potential to validate scientific evidence on nutrition and health claims of products. In like

The Problem from page 1

continued on page 3

The economic and mortality consequences of malnutrition in our country are staggering and must be addressed if we desire sustained and equitable economic growth that will convert us into a “developed” state.

The solutions that address these consequences should consider the current emerging concerns namely, globalization and rapid technological advances, pressing national problems and concerns, high impact programs, and advocacies to change the mindset of the Filipino people.

The Institute is one with the whole S&T community in developing solutions to pressing national problems. As such, the FNRI has engaged in timely and relevant R&D to combat malnutrition, providing alternative solutions to lifestyle and diet-related diseases and address rice shortage.

1. S&T-based interventions to address malnutrition

Dubbed as Sulong Pinoy, the program hinges on two schemes, technology transfer and feeding intervention model. The schemes served as intervention model for replication in other areas where possible. The feeding of children is done for 120-feeding days using FNRI-developed complementary food blends and snack curls. These include rice-mongo instant blend, rice-soy instant blend and rice-mongo-sesame ready-to-cook blend.

2. Development of technologies for the production of nutritious foods

In the battle against recurrent micronutrient deficiencies, the FNRI breaks new ground in the development of technologies for the production of multi-nutrient growth mix (MGM) and iron premix rice (IPR).

The plant-based MGM is made from extracted or powdered micronutrient-rich vegetables. The micronutrient-based MGM on the other hand, is made from the blend of multiple micronutrients such as iron, zinc, folate, vitamins A, C, iodine, among others, with cereal and/or legume as base material.

IPR is blended with ordinary rice to produce iron fortified rice (IFR). FNRI studies demonstrated that the IFR, when fed to schoolchildren in a public school

2

With all these solutions, we at FNRI, are committed to create a community in which children can survive, grow and develop. Malnutrition is completely avoidable. There are now alternatives which have been tried and tested, and are feasible.

The Solution... from page 2

manner, through its application, the Institute may be able to provide personalized dietary prescription to Filipinos with life-style and diet-related diseases.

O u r C u r r e n t & F u t u r e A c t i o n s

At the threshold of the 7th decade, the FNRI faithfully supports the vision for S&T of the DOST for competence and competitiveness. The DOST vision is that by 2020, the Philippines shall have developed and produced a wide range of globally competitive products and services with high technology content.

Thus, the FNRI pledges to complete its recent and upcoming commitments on food and nutrition R&D and S&T activities, which include:

1. Sulong PINOY

These include technology transfer initiatives among non-government organizations (NGOs), state universities, local government units (LGUs), national government offices and industry as well as initiatives in conducting feeding intervention in selected areas.

One hundred twenty day feeding activities have been done in selected areas of Antique, Occidental Mindoro, Leyte, Iloilo and Taguig City. Initial assessment showed positive results as reflected in the increase in weights among children and increase in knowledge among mothers who received the intervention. The Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation, Inc. (NVC, Inc.) adopted the technology on the production of complementary foods in collaboration with the Negros Occidental Provincial Government and other partners. Facilities for the production of complementary foods are being set up at the University of Antique through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). The same is being done in the Provincial Government of Mindoro through funds allocated by DOST-MIMAROPA.

FNRI is currently discussing with the Taguig City Government and the Department of Social Welfare &

Development on the setting up of similar facilities. Technology fora in Tacloban City and Rosales, Pangasinan have been done to promote the technologies on complementary foods among potential investors. Meanwhile, the roll-out of the technology on complementary foods is on-going in other regions.

2. R&D on MGM:

FNRI has so far developed prototype products for 3 variants of plant-based MGM. Trial formulations and shelf-life studies for these products are being done.

3. Initiatives on iron-fortified rice (IFR):

The Zambales Provincial Government adopted an ordinance providing regulatory mechanisms for the sale of IFR in all stores and food service establishments in the province. Side by side with the local support, the social marketing of IFR using the brand SupeRice provided the communication support for the promotion of the product in Zambales.

Consultations with the National Food Authority (NFA) is underway for the possible roll-out of IFR nationwide. The Japanese Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fishery (MAFF) has likewise affirmed support for the national launch of the IFR once negotiations with NFA pushes through.

Meanwhile, initial negotiations with the World Food Program and JD Aguilar Commercial is in progress for the purchase of IFR for use in its projects in critical areas in the country such as Mindanao. Once agreements are confirmed, JD Aguilar Commercial of San Leonardo, will be tapped to produce IFR.

4. R&D and S&T on Brown Rice

Several projects on brown rice have been

done and are underway to characterize this product, study its availability, and improve its shelf-life. Based on the FNRI’s accelerated storage study, the shelf-life of brown rice improved. From 3-4 months of storage, it is now stable up to 6-8 months of storage. Process verification trials in Nueva Ecija to validate storage stability is on-going.

5. Nutrigenomics

On our goal to address diet and lifestyle-related diseases, FNRI is committed to engage on the application of Nutrigenomics in the R&D programs. In preparation, the Institute has been upgrading its physical and human infrastructure through the purchase of basic equipment, building a nutrigenomics laboratory, and hiring new staff with biochemistry background. The FNRI networks with experts from other institutions engaged in nutrigenomics and pursues capacity building for its technical staff. As a result, the Philippine Nutrigenomics Study Group was organized and the 1st National Nutrigenomics Conference was held through the initiatives of FNRI.

Related studies are in the pipeline to constitute its R&D Program on Nutrigenomics.

With these, it is apparent that R&D and S&T have moved forward and evidence-informed actions that will improve the Filipinos’ nutritional health are gradually unfolding. FNRI on its midway to its 7th decade will strive hard to surpass what it has achieved in the past 65 years of service to the country.

3

FNRI, Zurich University and Nestle tie up for a study on Filipino children’s nutrition

Charina A. Javier, FNRI-DOST S&T Media Service

FNRI, Nestle partner anew with the re-launching of the NutritionSchool.ph website

Divorah V. Aguila, FNRI-DOST S&T Media Service

The Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST) in partnership with the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland (ZHAW), and Nestle Inc. recently undertook a study analyzing the nutritional status of children in relation to their socio-economic status.

The project involved constructing a wealth index based on selected socio-economic variables collected in the 7th National Nutrition Survey. Children were classified based on the wealth index which were correlated with selected nutrition variables.

The results of the study were used in modeling on the cost-benefit of food fortification program in reducing micronutrient deficiencies in the Philippines.

Food fortification is considered the most cost-effective strategy in reducing undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. Thus, the collaboration focused on assessing the monetary value of saving children from the negative health and economic benefits of undernutrition that asserts food fortification as a vehicle in addressing this problem.

The findings of the study serves as basis for developing products that are affordable for the general public, and in reviewing the Food Fortification Program and other intervention programs of the government and the private sector.

The Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology and Nestle Philippines, Inc. have joined forces anew in the pursuit to enhance nutrition education in the country via the strengthened NutritionSchool.ph website.

The online n u t r i t i o n school, which was initially launched in October 2007, has undergone e v a l u a t i o n in 2009. According to an evaluation study, the school, based on users’ perception, was helpful in arriving at healthy choices, aided in preparing and planning meals guiding them in managing certain lifestyle diseases, encouraged them to have regular physical activity, and made them aware of available nutrition services.

For more than three years of its birth in the cyberspace, the online school had a total of 5,764 graduates, with 3,774 given online certificates. The school also had a total of 1,618,886 hits with an average time on site of four minutes and 26 seconds.

The enhanced online school, which is expected to be re-launched on 2012 has a new look and structure, with user-friendly layout. The online school also offers lessons that are written in easy-to-understand and simple English.

In partnering with Nestlé to create the NutritionSchool.ph website, the FNRI is utilizing information and communication technology (ICT) to present a fresh dimension of its efforts to promote food and nutrition knowledge in the country.

EDITORIAL STAFF

Divorah V. AguilaIssue Editor

Charina A. JavierContributor

Zenaida V. Narciso, PhDEditor

Ma. Idelia G. GloriosoAssistant Editor/Proofreader

Jund Rian A. DoringoLayout/Design Artist

Mario V. Capanzana, PhDAdviser