A Bacolod firm launched its pioneering Iron Rice Plus aimed at addressing malnutrition and iron deficiency anemia at L’Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City on Friday, August 18.
CM & Sons Food Products Inc., renowned for its Bacolod food pasalubong brand Merzci Bread & Pastries, launched its iron-fortified rice and iron rice premix that aims to fortify diets, especially of young children, adolescents, and pregnant and lactating women.
The launching was led by Jonathan Manuel Lo, the firm’s CEO and president, and joined by Bacolod City officials and representative of several national government agencies.
Dr. Imelda Angeles-Agdeppa, Department of Science and Technology – Food and Nutrition Research Institute director, conveyed DOST-FNRI’s full support to the successful implementation and production of its iron-fortified rice and iron rice premix by CM & Sons.
The CM & Sons Iron Rice Plus production facility in Barangay Vista Alegre, Bacolod City, is the largest in the country that is fully accredited by DOST-FNRI.
It is a collaboration between government and the private sector to address malnutrition in the country, Angeles-Agdeppa said.
“Micronutrient deficiencies continue to be a significant nutritional concern in the Philippines,” she pointed out.
As highlighted in the 2018 Expanded National Nutrition Survey of the DOST-FNRI, iron-deficiency anemia mostly affects infants, women of childbearing age, and pregnant and lactating women, she said.
“Food fortification, which involves adding nutrients to commonly- consumed foods to enhance their nutritional value, proves to be a viable method in reaching economically and nutritionally at-risk segments of the population,” Angeles-Agdeppa also said.
Joana Paypon, CM & Sons senior area manager, said they supply iron-fortified rice for the school-based feeding programs of the Department of Education and will soon also be delivering to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
They supply Iron Rice Plus products to Regions 6, 7 and 8, and some parts of Mindanao, she said.
Their P75 million facility produces more than 400 tons of iron fortified rice and 2,400 kilograms iron rice premix every 24 hours, Paypon said.
They are working with the Philippine Rice Research Institute and have tied up with farmers’ groups in San Carlos City and Murcia for their supply or rice, she added.
This will enable their firm to also help marginal rice farmers, she said.
“The launch of Iron Rice Plus represents a significant accomplishment in the Visayas region, marking the establishment of a cutting-edge facility dedicated exclusively to the production of Iron Rice Premix and Iron-Fortified Rice. This modern facility strategically positions Visayas as a leader in the domain of nutritional innovation and culinary technology on a national scale,” a CM & Sons press statement said.
At the heart of this initiative is the fundamental goal of addressing malnutrition across the Philippines, it said.
The decision to enrich rice products with iron is strategically harmonized with the dietary preferences of Filipinos, who primarily revolve their eating habits around rice consumption, irrespective of their income brackets, CM & Sons said.
With the introduction of Iron Rice Plus, CM & Sons embarks on a fresh chapter, one underscored by a resolute dedication to socio-economic betterment through elevated nutrition, it added.*