Experts Push for Fortified Seasoning Cubes in Nigeria

Nutrition and health experts are calling for Nigeria to make seasoning cube fortification a must. This is to address the country’s micronutrient deficiencies.

The focus is on adding vitamin B9 (folic acid) and vitamin B12 to seasoning cubes, also called bouillon cubes, which many Nigerian families use in their cooking.

In 2024, Nigeria launched voluntary standards for bouillon fortification. This allows manufacturers to add vitamin B9, vitamin B12, iron, zinc, and iodine.

Now, experts want the government to make these standards mandatory. They believe that relying on voluntary measures may not reach everyone who needs it.

Why focus on seasoning cubes?

Experts are looking at seasoning cubes because they are popular in Nigerian homes.

A 2024 study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences found that over 99 percent of Nigerian households use bouillon. This is much higher than the less than 20 percent who consume branded wheat flour and less than 1 percent who consume branded maize flour.

The research showed that this high consumption makes bouillon a good option for reaching families who do not get fortified foods in other ways.

It also found that different income groups and regions consume other fortified foods differently. This is important because Nigeria has programs for foods like flour and refined oil, but these do not reach every household.

Using bouillon in this way is not a new idea in Nigeria. The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare pointed out in its 2021 guidelines that bouillon cubes could be a good way to fortify nutrients. They called for more research into adding vitamin B9 and iron.

Three years later, Nigeria introduced voluntary standards for manufacturers to fortify bouillon cubes with vitamin B9, vitamin B12, iron, zinc, and iodine.

A report by BioAnalyst noted that more than 100 million bouillon cubes are sold daily in Nigeria, showing their wide use in West Africa.

So, the idea is that seasoning cubes can help provide essential nutrients to families that may miss out on current fortification programs.

What do experts say?

Olusola Malomo, an assistant director of dietetics at the Lagos State Health Service Commission, told PREMIUM TIMES that seasoning cubes can help reach people across income levels. He said this is done “without requiring them to change their eating habits.”

“They provide an opportunity to reach women before pregnancy, when adequate folate is most important for preventing neural tube defects,” Mr Malomo added.

Odunayo Babatunde, a maternal and child health nutritionist, estimated that around 95 percent of Nigerians use seasoning cubes, including those from poorer households who may not have access to other nutrient-rich foods.

Mrs Babatunde also mentioned that vitamins B9 and B12 can be added to dry seasoning cubes without changing their color, taste, or shelf life.

“If it is made mandatory, it guarantees that even the poorest women can easily access vitamin B9/12 by just having regular meals at home,” she added.

Nutritional gaps

There is concern that current food-fortification programs are not closing the micronutrient gap.

The Nigerian study found that even with existing fortification, 42 percent of women of reproductive age and 39 percent of children aged six to 59 months lack enough vitamin B12.

They estimated that 75 percent of women and 68 percent of children in the poorest socioeconomic group are deficient. They also found higher deficiency levels in rural areas and suggested that adding nutrients to bouillon could help close these gaps.

The researchers concluded that fortifying bouillon could greatly reduce deficiencies in several micronutrients. It could also improve fairness between poorer and wealthier households and between rural and urban areas.

Why vitamin B9?

Vitamin B9 is getting attention due to its importance in early pregnancy.

Neural tube defects, like spina bifida and anencephaly, happen in the first weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman knows she is pregnant. Getting enough vitamin B9 before and during early pregnancy can greatly lower the risk.

Mrs Babatunde told PREMIUM TIMES that vitamin B9 is very important in the first 28 days of pregnancy for cell division and neural tube development.

“Currently, over 80 percent of pregnant women and more than 90 percent of women of childbearing age in Nigeria are vitamin B9 deficient,” she said.

That is why experts think widespread food fortification could help supplement existing options.

A Lagos-based neurosurgeon, Oluwafemi Owagbemi, who has treated patients with spina bifida, shared his thoughts in an opinion piece. He said knowing about folate deficiency is not enough if women can't regularly access nutrient-rich diets. For him, food fortification is a way to provide nutrients through foods people already eat.

Concerns suggest that Nigeria could see nearly 11,000 babies born with neural tube defects each year, based on an estimated rate of 14.2 cases per 10,000 live births and about 7.5 million births a year.

The case for vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is also drawing attention for its role in producing blood and supporting brain function. It is also linked to vitamin B9.

Mr Babatunde explained that vitamin B12 is often ignored, even though it is essential for the body’s use of vitamin B9. He described the two nutrients as closely connected and argued that addressing B9 without B12 could leave a big gap.

The Nigeria-specific research also points to the need for focus on vitamin B12. They modeled that fortifying bouillon with 1.2 micrograms of vitamin B12 per gram could cut vitamin B12 inadequacy from 42 percent to about 1 percent among women of reproductive age and children.

For women in the poorest socioeconomic group, the model suggested a 71-percentage-point drop, while the reduction for children in the same group was estimated at 66 percentage points.

These findings are modeled, not proof from a national fortification program. The researchers noted that fortification levels would need careful planning to maximize benefits and limit risks of too much intake.

Does fortified bouillon really work?

Experts advocating for mandatory standards argue that voluntary efforts are unlikely to cover enough people.

They back this with clinical evidence from the Condiment Micronutrient Innovation Trial (CoMIT) done in northern Ghana.

The CoMIT was a double-masked, randomized controlled trial with over 2,000 participants. This included children, women of reproductive age, and lactating women.

Those who received bouillon fortified with multiple micronutrients, including vitamin B9 and B12, saw improvements in blood folate and vitamin B12 levels.

The trial shows that fortified bouillon can deliver these nutrients through regular meals. But it does not guarantee the same results would happen across Nigeria.

The research in Nigeria models potential outcomes using local consumption data, while the Ghana trial shows clinical evidence of what fortified bouillon can do.

NAFDAC’s stance

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is looking into the possibility of using bouillon for food fortification.

NAFDAC Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, told The Guardian that the agency is working with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to evaluate using seasoning cubes to provide essential nutrients.

Mrs Adeyeye said this initiative is part of NAFDAC’s larger efforts to improve food fortification. The agency is also working to digitize monitoring and reporting systems to boost compliance.

The 2021 national micronutrient guidelines already identify NAFDAC, along with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), as key regulators in Nigeria’s food-fortification program. The guidelines also call for regular checks on fortified products to ensure compliance.

The sodium issue

The proposal also raises concerns about sodium. Seasoning cubes can add to sodium intake, and nutrition experts warn that fortification should not push Nigerians to eat more of the product because of the added vitamins.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that high sodium intake can raise blood pressure, greatly increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Mrs Babatunde argued that any mandatory fortification plan should also focus on reducing sodium intake.

The goal, she said, should be to improve the nutritional value of the amount of seasoning cubes people already eat, not to encourage them to consume more.

In the end, the discussion about mandatory fortification is about whether Nigeria can turn a common dietary practice into a way to fill significant micronutrient gaps without creating new health issues.