Nigeria: Food and Drink Fair,… Entrepreneurs Advocate Organic Foods, Healthy Choices

Some food and confectionery entrepreneurs have advised Nigerians to go for organic foods and make healthy choices in their diet.

 The food vendors gave the advice in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the ongoing Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Food and Drink Fair on Tuesday in Lagos.

 NAN reports that the theme for this year’s GTB Food and Drink Fair was “Street Food”.

 Ebi Louis-Domeih, Founder, Bon Delice, told NAN that people needed to rethink what they eat by having healthier food without compromising the pleasure they get from such food.

 “Who says healthy can’t be sweet? For autistic children, they don’t eat diary, some don’t eat sugar and diabetics also don’t eat sugar.

 “So, for common flour, we can replace with sorghum, oats, brown rice, coconut flour, flax seeds, chia seeds and other things that are safe for them.

 “For diabetics, we can take away sugar and replace with xylitol, stevia and molasses.

“Molasses is a derivative of sugar cane liquid. It has a lot of vitamins and minerals that are very good for the body.

 “We can also use date syrups and sometimes, if we can, we use honey,” she said.

 Louis-Domeih said that knowing which food were good and those that were bad for one’s health was a major factor in food choices.

 “It is good for one to study one’s body system in relation to food intake.

 “For example, if I am fructose intolerant, if I take a lot of fruits, I react to them but vegetable juices are good for me.

 “Look at your body, study and understand it, take note of what you react to and what is good for you before you eat,” she said.

 Another food vendor, Ejiro Jakpa, said that there were many healthy organic foods in Nigerian environment.

 According to Jakpa whose outfit, Nicnax Enterprises, specialises in breakfast cereals, most cereals ingredients can be found locally.

 “About 80 per cent of our granola cereal is made from oats and it is sweetened with honey.

 “Depending on the variant, we can also add peanuts, coconut, cashew nuts, dried fruits,” she said.

 NAN reports that there were about 150 food and drinks enterprises at the fair.

 The stalls included confectionery and bakery items, dry and packaged foods, street food, farmer’s market, as well as ready to eat consumables and restaurants.

The fair also featured master classes where children were taught how to bake cookies as well as make pancakes and sandwiches. (NAN)

https://www.africaprimenews.com/2018/04/30/development/foundation-invests-20m-to-boost-human-capital-development-in-nigeria/