Persistent child malnutrition in Tanzania: risks associated with traditional complementary foods (A review)

African Journal of Food Science, 2010, 4 (11) : 679 - 692Despite numerous nutritional interventions that have taken place in Tanzania, the Country still experiences a high rate of child malnutrition. Millions of children suffer from one or more forms of malnutrition resulting in stunting, underweight, wasting and anemia. The growth of children often declines with the introduction of complementary foods around the age of 6 months and continues to decline up to 24 months that have greater implications for health during adult-hood. Poor breastfeeding and child feeding practices augmented by very early introduction of nutritionally inadequate and contaminated complementary foods are major factors contributing to persistent child malnutrition in Tanzania. These complementary foods comprise mainly cereal-based porridges with little or no vegetables and often lacking animal proteins. The promotion of exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months and appropriate feeding practices has been the integral parts of the intervention processes taking place in Tanzania. Food safety education is a critical prerequisite in the child health programs and is a cost effective intervention with long term positive impacts. This paper reviews the persistent child malnutrition in Tanzania and the causative factors to highlight risks associated with use of complimentary

Persistent child malnutrition in Tanzania: risks associated with traditional complementary foods (A review)

African Journal of Food Science, 2010, 4 (11) : 679 - 692Despite numerous nutritional interventions that have taken place in Tanzania, the Country still experiences a high rate of child malnutrition. Millions of children suffer from one or more forms of malnutrition resulting in stunting, underweight, wasting and anemia. The growth of children often declines with the introduction of complementary foods around the age of 6 months and continues to decline up to 24 months that have greater implications for health during adult-hood. Poor breastfeeding and child feeding practices augmented by very early introduction of nutritionally inadequate and contaminated complementary foods are major factors contributing to persistent child malnutrition in Tanzania. These complementary foods comprise mainly cereal-based porridges with little or no vegetables and often lacking animal proteins. The promotion of exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months and appropriate feeding practices has been the integral parts of the intervention processes taking place in Tanzania. Food safety education is a critical prerequisite in the child health programs and is a cost effective intervention with long term positive impacts. This paper reviews the persistent child malnutrition in Tanzania and the causative factors to highlight risks associated with use of complimentary

A review of microbiological safety of fruits and vegetables and the introduction of electrolyzed water as an alternative to sodium hypochlorite solution

African Journal of Food Science, 2010; 4(13): 78 - 789Over the past few years, food safety has become and continues to be the number one public concern. Considerable progress to strengthen food safety systems has been achieved in many countries, highlighting the opportunities to reduce and prevent food-borne disease. However, unacceptable rates of food-borne illness still remain and new hazards continue to enter the food supply chain. Contaminations in food and agricultural products may occur in every stage of the food supply chain, from the field to the table, that is production, harvesting, processing, storage and distribution, calling for proper decontamination and insuring food safety at each of these stages using an effective antimicrobial agent. Several commercial products are available for this purpose, however, most of available products are seriously hindered by a number of work and environmental safety limitations calling for the development of a new product which is both safe for environment and workers. In this accord, the use of acidic electrolyzed water (AEW), a new concept developed in Japan, which is now gaining popularity in other countries has been introduced. The principle behind its sterilizing effect is still explored, but it has shown to have strong and significant bactericidal and virucidal and moderate fungicidal properties. Some studies have been carried out in Japan, China, Korea, Canada, Europe and the USA on its pre- and post-harvest application in the field of food processing. This review provides an overview of microbiological safety of food and agricultural produces, points out the burdens of food borne diseases; highlights the drawbacks of currently employed sanitizers and introduces electrolyzed water as a novel non-thermal food sanitizer with potential of application in agriculture and food industry

Nutritional and sensory quality of composite extruded complementary food

Complementary foods in Ethiopia have nutritional and sensory limitations which can be attributed to cereal‐dominated ingredients and lack of appropriate processing techniques. This study aimed to optimize the nutritional and sensory quality of complementary food product through compositing and extrusion of various local ingredients. A constrained D‐optimal mixture experiment with 13 runs was designed. Accordingly, 55–65 g/100 g oats, 11–23 g/100 g soybean and 6–11 g/100 g linseed, and a premix of 9.9 g/100 g sugar, 0.6 g/100 g table salt, three g/100 g moringa and 1.5 g/100 g fenugreek were blended and extruded using a co‐rotating twin screw extruder with set parameters. Statistical model evaluation and optimization were done using Minitab version 16 software package. There is a statistically significant (p < 0.05) association between the blend of oats and soybean, oats and linseed, soybean and linseed, and the protein, fat, carbohydrate, fiber, ash, β‐carotene content as well as aroma, taste, and consistency. On the contrary, there is a no statistically significant (p < 0.05) association between the blends and moisture, energy, and zinc content together with appearance and overall acceptability. The optimal blending ratio was 55.0 g/100 g oats, 21.0 g/100 g soybean, and 9.0 g/100 g linseed plus 15.0 g/100 g premix. Evidence‐based selection of locally grown plant‐based ingredients, an optimal mixture of these ingredients and optimal processing, can result in a complementary food product with an improved dietary quality for children in low‐income settings