Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

MoH dismisses viral video, says wheat flour 'safe' 

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Muscat: The Ministry of Health (MoH) has clarified on a video circulating on social media about the effects of premix added to wheat flour sold in the market and requested citizens not to distribute videos without accredited scientific evidence.


MoH, in a statement, said the video had mixed up two scientific processes of flour bleaching and fortification, which are two separate processes. Combining them into a single shot is a “technical fallacy”, it said.


“Labelling white flour as a toxic product because of the presence of alloxan in the bleached flour is incorrect,” said the statement.


“Scientists believe that alloxan, which is not allowed to be directly added to the flour, is likely to be present in the flour as a result of the bleaching process in a very small proportion -- 0.88-1.0 mg/kg of food -- which is far below the toxic levels (50-100 mg / kg of food) prescribed in scientific studies,” it said.


The statement said there is no scientific evidence that the above-mentioned quantity of alloxan is dangerous.


According to McGill Canadian University, some doctors do not advise people to consume white flour and cake baked by this “unwanted” substance to prevent any potential risk.


The statement said the flour mixture is made of 11 nutritional items, vitamins and minerals, including folic acid. “It is essential to enrich the white flour with these ingredients as wheat tends to lose minerals and vitamins during the refining process.”


The ministry said this process contributes effectively to improving the nutritional status of society,


Oman has applied this enrichment process under the United Nations’ supervision in collaboration with several local and international experts since 1995.


 


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