To help strengthen Valenzuela’s Barangay-Based Feeding Program (BBFP), the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-FNRI) has shared its P9-million manufacturing facility to the city government that produces nutritious edibles for infants.
This first Automated Complementary Baby Food Production Plant ran by a local government unit (LGU) is aimed at curbing malnutrition and, at the same time, save state funds that may be reallocated for other health services.
Approximately, the existing budget of Valenzuela for the commercial baby food amounts to P2.7 million annually.
The project adapts the “instant rice-mongo blend technology” to replace the more costly baby-food product given to the BBFP’s beneficiaries.
The DOST-FNRI granted the city government a nonexclusive and nontransferrable license to adopt, use, make, produce or commercialize the technology and its products for five years.
The LGU, likewise, will be provided with the necessary information, personnel training and technical and consultancy services within the agreed period.
Located at the Valenzuela City Polytechnic College in Barangay Parada, the baby-food manufacturing plant has a capacity to produce up to 120 kilograms per hour or around 4,000 sachets (30 grams per foil sachet). Called Nutrival, the food mixture is currently produced by grinding and mixing rice and mongo beans, which are then cooked through the extrusion method. The extruded mass is then pounded into powder to produce an instant, ready-to-eat blend.
To consume, just mix and stir the powder with hot water until the desired consistency is achieved. It can also be combined with cooked or mashed fruits and vegetables for added nutritional value.
The rice and mongo instant blend porridge has a one-year shelf life when properly stored. For full nutritional benefits, a serving of one sachet daily is recommended for children six to 36 months old, according to FNRI. Apart from Nutrival, the plant is also capable of producing other nutritious products, such as cheese curls made of the same raw materials.
Statistics show that Valenzuela’s population of children under 5 years old stands at 92,182, of which 6,285, or 6.8 percent, are beneficiaries of the BBFP.
Run by the Office of the Mayor, the program caters to two brackets of children-beneficiaries: for babies between 6 to 24 months old, and toddlers aged 25 months to 59 months old.
The former group receives commercial baby food and fortified rice-porridge mix, while the latter gets fortified instant noodles, biscuits and rice mix.
The inauguration of the baby-food production facility, which was brought by the DOST and the Technology Application and Promotion Institute to Valenzuela, coincided during the recent Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela Science and Technology Fair and Exhibits.