missing micronutrients

The Changing Markets Foundation found that Unilever fails to fortify its basic Maizena Natural cornflour in Mexico despite claims that its cornflour products in Latin America are fortified. Furthermore, laboratory tests of 84 samples revealed that flavoured Maizena atole mixes often contain lower levels of iron and zinc than stated on their labels, suggesting a gap between the company's global nutrition commitments and its product reality.

• Unilever claims that its cornflour products in Latin America are fortified with zinc, vitamin A, and other micronutrients, but the basic Maizena Natural product sold in Mexico is not fortified.
• Laboratory testing of Maizena flavoured atole products in Mexico showed that none of the samples tested contained the levels of iron stated on their packaging, and most contained lower than stated levels of zinc.
• Specific new product flavours showed significant deficiencies; the cookie flavour was well below stated levels for both iron and zinc, and the rice pudding flavour was well below stated zinc levels.
• While minerals were consistently low, results for vitamins B1, B3, and B9 were mixed; niacin (B3) levels in most flavours were more than double the label claim, while thiamine (B1) was clearly below the label claim in the chocolate flavour.
• The report suggests that the low levels of iron and zinc may result from poor fortification practices or systematic under-fortification rather than degradation, as minerals are generally more stable than vitamins during processing.
• Unilever does not disclose the source of iron used in its fortification, which is critical because different iron sources have different levels of bioavailability and absorbability in the human body.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2019). missing micronutrients. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Unilever_Maizena_FINAL_ENG.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. missing micronutrients. 2019. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Unilever_Maizena_FINAL_ENG.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=missing micronutrients |date=September 2019 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Unilever_Maizena_FINAL_ENG.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2019missing, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{missing micronutrients}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Unilever_Maizena_FINAL_ENG.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }