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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | The business of malnutrition -Veena Shatrugna & Sylvia Karpagam

The business of malnutrition -Veena Shatrugna & Sylvia Karpagam

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published Published on Oct 4, 2016   modified Modified on Oct 4, 2016
-Down to Earth

How companies are supplying unsafe and unverified nutrition supplements to children in Karnataka

A curious case has emerged in Karnataka. Well-known companies, including Biocon, Jindal Steel and Scania, are supplying spirulina granules to undernourished and malnourished children enrolled in anganwadis (child daycare centres) under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), in direct contravention of a 2004 Supreme Court order which said, “Contractors shall not be used for supply of nutrition in Anganwadis.”

Worse, no government agency has approved the use of spirulina either as a drug or as a nutrition supplement. On the contrary, there is evidence to show that it is not safe. Over 15 years ago, a study by the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, on preschool children fed spirulina for vitamin A deficiency was abandoned mid-way because the levels of beta carotene (precursor to vitamin A) in children fed spirulina dropped to less than 40 per cent during the trial period.

Spirulina is an algae that grows on lakes and ponds. If the water contains heavy metals such as mercury or lead, the spirulina algae absorb the metals. When harvested and dried as a supplement, the metals continue to remain inside the supplement. Studies reveal that improperly processed spirulina contain significant amounts of cyanotoxins, which can accumulate in the body over a period of time. One study reported the presence of lead up to 5.1 parts per million in a sample from a commercial supplement. It is important to remember that for children there are no safe limits for toxins and heavy metals in food, and, it is unethical to give such foods to children.

The World Health Organization says cyanotoxins and heavy metal toxicity can cause irreversible nerve, bone and tissue damage. The Chinese State Food and Drug Administration reported that lead, mercury, and arsenic contamination is widespread in spirulina supplements, and recalled all spirulina products in 2012.

Pre-school children require between 1,000 and 1,500 calories every day. The food calories must come from a variety of food sources so that children get all the nutrients such as proteins, vitamins and minerals. Most cooked foods consumed by children have an energy density of less than one calorie per gram of food. This means that pre-school children require 1 kg of cooked food from milk, rice, dal, eggs, fruits, nuts, flesh foods and vegetables with an extra dose of oil/fat, and even sugar every day to meet their nutritional needs. It is, therefore, laughable that two grams of spirulina daily can provide enough macro or micronutrients necessary for a child’s needs, as claimed by the companies. Worse, since the introduction of spirulina, government agencies in Karnataka have become irregular in providing normal foods to children.

Please click here to read more.

Down to Earth, 30 September, 2016, http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/the-business-of-malnutrition-55734


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