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Fortification of foods (Nigeria)

Fortified foods are foods to which vitamins, minerals or amino acids have been added to for the purpose of prevent-ing or correcting a demonstrated deficiency of one or more nutrients in the population groups. In Nigeria a person shall not sell or advertise any food that is represented on the label to the public as fortified with vitamins and minerals unless it is registered with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). The NAFDAC Food Fortifications Regulations 2021 (The Regulation), regulates the manufacturing, importation, ex-portation, distribution, sale, and advertisement of fortified foods in Nigeria. The Regulation contains a Schedule of foods which may be fortified with the corresponding vitamins or minerals. Only foods listed in Fifth Schedule to the Regulation maybe fortified with the corresponding vitamins or minerals as specified in the same Schedule. By the regulation food shall not be said to be fortified with vitamins and minerals where the Nutrient Reference Val-ue (NRV) intake of that food is more than the quantity of vitamins and minerals specified in the second schedule to the regulation and the vitamin and mineral content shall be at least 5% of the NRV per serving, expressed as a per-centage of the NRV per 100g/100ml or per package. It is mandatory for foods like Sugar, Wheat and Maize Flour, Vegetable Oil, Margarine, and Butter to be fortified with Vitamin A.

This is general information rather than legal advice and is current as of 30 May 2024. We recommend you contact a specialised food lawyer for legal advice for your particular circumstances to support commercial decisions which could impact your product or business.


Adeniji Oni

Nigeria
Niji Oni & Co