Armenian expert speaks against enrichment of wheat flour
07.08.2017,
15:40
An associate professor at the Yerevan State University of Economics Varduhi Melikyan spoke today against the rumored desire of the government to resume discussions over a bill calling for the enrichment of wheat flour in Armenia.
YEREVAN, August 7. /ARKA/. An associate professor at the Yerevan State University of Economics Varduhi Melikyan spoke today against the rumored desire of the government to resume discussions over a bill calling for the enrichment of wheat flour in Armenia.
The bill, strongly supported by UNICEF, was backed by the government in 2014 November. The government argued that enriched flour is important in terms of protecting against the undesirable effects on the body of lack of some microelements and vitamins, including folic acid.
The discussions in the parliament were halted after a strong popular protest. Nevertheless, a string of recent stories in the Armenian media have been claiming that the bill in question would again be submitted to the government for approval.
"The bill was actively discussed in the Armenian society and was met extremely negatively, and we believe that this is why it was suspended. We thought that the move was primarily due to the change of the country's prime minister," Melikyan noted.
"The adoption of this bill is undesirable, and I hope that our people will again express a protest in this regard, since for several years it has been repeatedly proved that flour enrichment is an anti-national policy and that it will not be of use to us," Melikyan argued.
According to her, Armenia is an agricultural country rich in animal and vegetable products, which for millennia have satisfied all the needs of the population in microelements and vitamins.
"Not only geographical location, but also food products are of great importance in terms of formation of the national gene. For many millennia we have developed national traditions concerning flour products in particular. The Armenian people have never used additives, having born healthy generations," Melikyan stressed.
At the end of 2015 then health minister Armen Muradyan said the bill on the enrichment of wheat flour would help reduce the number of cases of anemia in children. He also noted that in the period from 1937 to 1994, Armenians had used only enriched wheat flour." -0-
The bill, strongly supported by UNICEF, was backed by the government in 2014 November. The government argued that enriched flour is important in terms of protecting against the undesirable effects on the body of lack of some microelements and vitamins, including folic acid.
The discussions in the parliament were halted after a strong popular protest. Nevertheless, a string of recent stories in the Armenian media have been claiming that the bill in question would again be submitted to the government for approval.
"The bill was actively discussed in the Armenian society and was met extremely negatively, and we believe that this is why it was suspended. We thought that the move was primarily due to the change of the country's prime minister," Melikyan noted.
"The adoption of this bill is undesirable, and I hope that our people will again express a protest in this regard, since for several years it has been repeatedly proved that flour enrichment is an anti-national policy and that it will not be of use to us," Melikyan argued.
According to her, Armenia is an agricultural country rich in animal and vegetable products, which for millennia have satisfied all the needs of the population in microelements and vitamins.
"Not only geographical location, but also food products are of great importance in terms of formation of the national gene. For many millennia we have developed national traditions concerning flour products in particular. The Armenian people have never used additives, having born healthy generations," Melikyan stressed.
At the end of 2015 then health minister Armen Muradyan said the bill on the enrichment of wheat flour would help reduce the number of cases of anemia in children. He also noted that in the period from 1937 to 1994, Armenians had used only enriched wheat flour." -0-
