By Abigail Gold
The leading manufacturer and distributor of brand of nutrient-enriched premixes and veterinary drugs using current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), BNSL has relaunched its micronutrient powder known as ENRICH with the hope of ending malnutrition in the Africa.
BNSL, which constantly strives to maintain the most stringent global and local standards in its area of operation while acquiring state of the art equipment announce the plan during a world press conference in its facility in Ibafo, Ogun State over the weekend.
Announcing the plan, the managing director of BNSL, Ms. Chioma Odimegwu said that “I am here to present to you all, our re-launch of the micronutrient powder–ENRICH, focused predominantly on young children. The aim of this re-launch is to bring the world’s attention to the plight of hundreds of millions of malnourished children all over the world, most especially, within Africa,” she added.
Nigeria, a middle-income country is home to the highest number of stunted children in the continent, and ranks 3rd globally with more than 10million stunted children, (DHS 2008). 41% of all children under 5 are chronically malnourished and 23% are underweight. 1million children in this group die annually, Odimegwu stated
According to her, this menace is usually caused by poverty, poor child feeding practices; lack of proper sanitation, lack of clean water, inadequate maternal nutrition and uninformed practices amongst others.
The magnitude of the problem must be met with a response that reflects the scale and gravity of the situation. In this regard, BNSL looks forward to delivering fortification as an efficient solution to a national challenge, and to drive a meaningful impact.
Enrich is a micronutrient powder that can be sprinkled and mixed with ready to eat food. It is a blend of essential vitamins and minerals, with specially encapsulated iron, for easier digestion. Enrich provides a convenient formulation for supplementing any low nutrient food. Majorly, it is targeted to meet the daily recommended nutrient intake of children above 6 months of age. The features are as follows: free flowing powder, it is relatively tasteless and does not change the taste, smell or color of the food
The stock keeping unit (SKU) for Enrich is in 1g sachet, with 60 sachets placed in a single box.
BNSL Limited formerly known as Bio Organics Nutrients Systems Limited is a world class authority on vitamins, minerals, and nutraceuticals. The company works closely with regulatory bodies such as NAFDAC, SON and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
“We are GFSI FSSC 22000 certified and Halal certified from Intertek. Periodically, BNSL Limited’s manufacturing facility is audited by both local and international regulatory and certification bodies to ensure conformity to established standards and regulations,” Odimegwu revealed.
The managing Director of BNSL, Odimegwu, brings over 12years of experience in business development, strategy, marketing and economic analysis both locally and internationally to bear at the company.
Speaking on the company’s history, Mr. Akeem Oyedunle Production Manager said, “BNSL supplies vitamin and mineral premixes to the Food, Beverages, Animal Health and Livestock industries and also manufactures and distributes its own brand of Nutrient Enrich blends using best manufacturing practices in our fortification process.”
The Head Quality Assurance and Control, Adanna llogbunam said, “Enrich MNP is a blend of 15 Essential vitamins and minerals in powder form, required for proper development and growth of children between the age of six months to fiftysix months and the vulnerable in our society. It’s a free flowing micronutrient blend.
“This vitamins and minerals are digestible powder based. It is formulated according to WHO standard,” she added.
Sales Director, chamberlain Emmanuel Ayo stated that Enrich is not the only product the company produces, “We do Human Nutrition and Animal Nutrition. The names of the products we produce in our company are; Coccifor, Bio vitastress, Coryl sp, Bio-sel, Aqua-pro, Flour and Cornflakes.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Tree-crops and rural development services Ogun state Ministry of Agriculture, Mr James Oyeshola commended the BNSL for its innovativeness and the ability to refortify Enrich and also enjoined parents to avail themselves the opportunity to give their children good nutrient.
He said,” the product will give more nutrients to the children and makes them healthy.”
