Cornstarch flour lacks vitamins and minerals, study says

Despite the fact that in the Maizena speech it promotes the fortification of the Maizena Natural corn flour, the Unilever company does not, as revealed by an investigation carried out by the Changing Markets Foundation, Food and Counterweight Project.

"Unilever, one of the world's largest food production companies, is failing to meet its globally agreed nutrition commitments," said the most recent report on flour fortification in Mexico from the research group.

The document prepared by the group highlighted that even Maizena states on its official website that since the 1990s its cornmeal products are "voluntarily enriched with vitamins and minerals."

Changing Markets revealed that there is no consistency between Unilever's international commitments for the fortification of its products and its business practices, in Mexico, through the Maizena brand.

Food and nutrient deficiency in Mexico is a serious public health problem, the research said, and noted that one in four people under five are iron deficient and nine out of 10 women do not consume enough iron in your diet

For this reason and "with the objective of investigating the levels of nutrition" of Unilever, the products of Maizena were analyzed, because according to their information they are consumed in 90 percent of the houses in Mexico.

The report showed that "only micronutrients are added to flavored products," such as Maizena Flavors atoles, foods that are less healthy because of their level of processing and ingredients.

"However, even these products to which micronutrients are not being added are being fortified correctly: it was found that the levels of nutrients in Maizena atoles are significantly lower than what is recorded on the product label, 15 percent less in iron and 9 percent less in zinc on average, "the group said.

The investigation showed that none of the samples analyzed contained the levels of iron that it claims to have on the labeling, in addition most of the samples resulted in lower levels of zinc compared to what its packaging reports.

"Unilever states that they are committed to address malnutrition due to micronutrient deficiencies in the world, however, our report shows that the company is breaching this commitment by putting it into practice. Unilever has a responsibility to explain why its Natural Corn product does not is fortified, even though the company's global discourse on fortification claims otherwise, and why the levels of iron and zinc in flavored products, the atoles, do not meet the levels promised by their labels, "said Alice Delemare from Changing Markets.

In the absence of clarity about the fortification, Changing Markets added the explanation of the supply of the iron used in its products.

"If Unilever is using one of the least bioavailable iron sources, it is not fortifying flour blends to atole effectively," Delemare said.

FOOD FORTIFICATION

The General Health Law of Mexico established since 2002 the mandatory enrichment of corn and wheat flours: both wheat flour and nixtamalized corn flour must be added with iron, zinc, folic acid and vitamins B1, B2 and B3.

Given this, Changing Markets discovered that Maizena brand products "do not meet these standards because they appear to be, in principle, not nixtamalized cornmeal products; when since the 1990s Unilever promised that its products Cornmeal are voluntarily enriched with vitamins and minerals. "

For the Changing Markets organization, food fortification "can be an effective tool to combat nutritional deficiencies of the population, such as iron and zinc deficiencies, when carried out effectively and transparently, as well as in combination with policies that promote access to nutritious and healthy foods, and reduce the consumption of ultraprocessed foods. "" The Mexican population faces a double burden of malnutrition; on the one hand, there is a huge supply and promotion of unhealthy products that cause obesity and disease Chronicles, while on the other, industries fail to properly fortify their flours, leaving families at risk of malnutrition at a great disadvantage, "said Ana Larrañaga, Coordinator of the ContraPESO Coalition.

In 2018, Unilever positioned itself as the second place in the Access to Nutrition Index, a tool that assesses the industry's commitment to nutrition. He obtained the position by presenting himself as a company that fortifies his most popular and easily accessible products in countries like Mexico where there are problems of malnutrition.

According to Euromonitor International (a research on health and wellness), the global sales of "fortified and functional foods and beverages" by Unilever in 2018 amounted to $ 190 million and its forecast for growth over the next five years is 24 percent .