Rice consumption in Sri Lanka is forever changed with the introduction of fortified rice by Akshata, a brand renowned for its innovations.
For the first time in the world, Heirloom rice which is already known for its antioxidant and low-GI properties will now be fortified with Vitamins and Minerals. With its new state-of-the-art facilities, Akshata Products, which formerly catered to a niche market, will now provide its products to the mass market at competitive costs.
Nadu and Samba varieties which are consumed by the majority of the population will also be fortified with multiple vitamins and minerals—as well as other crucial nutrients— such as fiber and lysine that are deficient in the diet, will be added to rice using extrusion technology. As the fortified rice’s composition is tailored to satisfy particular public health demands, nutritional needs of the people will be met.
Roshan Perera , Managing Director of Grains n Green (pvt) ltd, owner of the Akshata brand, recently stated – “Our fortified rice looks, smells, cooks, and tastes the same as nonfortified rice, meaning fortified rice shows high consumer acceptability and no change in dietary habits or preparation methods is required. Another advantage is that as the added nutrients are embedded in the fortified extruded kernel, they are less affected during transport, storage, washing, and cooking, and show good overall stability.”
By offering our fortified Samba and Nadu varieties at less than 10% more than the current non-fortified price, we will revolutionize people’s eating habits. This is possible because of the customized technology we are using; other methods, such as coating, dusting, etc., have shown to lose most of their nutrients during the cooking process and are too expensive. We believe fortified rice will increase the demand and will be a game changer for rice growers and processors, for local feeding programs, and most importantly, for the beneficiaries of the improved nutritional qualities of rice.
We have an excellent product, and with renowned and respected Professor kkds Ranaweera on board, we will soon be able to eradicate Vitamin A, Folic acid, Iodine and Iron deficiency among our precious children. By venturing into untapped opportunity of rice fortification, we hope to improve micronutrient intake of the general population and thereby mitigate the health problems caused by nutrient deficiencies.”
Akshata fortified rice is already being provided free to low-income parents of two schools in Anuradhapura and Mannar as a Pilot project and their children’s nutritional progress is closely monitored, this Ironically coincides with Sri Lanka’s involvement in food assistance programs run by US AID and the WFP, significantly the national school meal program, for which US AID is said to be importing 600 metric tons of fortified rice, to provide school meals to children. Therefore, the importance of consuming enough micronutrients each day is widely acknowledged, and Akshata is working to meet this demand and improve nutrition through rice fortification.
