Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a foremost food production company in Nigeria, Tiger Foods, Mr Don Ebubeogu, has explained why sugar is added to some tomato pastes by manufacturers.
He was reacting to the recent arrest of one Mrs Chioma Egodi over a post she made alleging that the tomato paste manufactured by another brand in the country of being too sugary.
The arrest of the woman led to massive uproar in the social media with people questioning why sugar should be added to tomato pastes by some companies.
Mr Ebubeogu in a post on his official facebook page explained that sugar may be added in order to balance the acidity of the tomato.
“A few days ago, social media exploded with the news of the arrest of a lady by the Police after she wrote a review about a Tomato Paste Brand that contains sugar”
“This article is not about the merits and demerits of the escalation of the review. My interest is to fill the knowledge gap about the presence of sugar in most Tomato Pastes,” began Mr Ebubeogu.
He explained that typically, in some commercially produced tomato pastes, a small amount of sugar may be added to balance the natural acidity of tomatoes and enhance the flavour and taste.
“Tomatoes are acidic, and the addition of sugar counteracts that. Therefore, the purpose of adding a pinch of sugar to processed tomato paste is to balance the its acidity,” he said.
He, however, noted that there is no standard cap on the percentage of sugar to be added adding that It is the producer’s responsibility to indicate the percentage of added sugar.
He advised that consumers need to read the ingredient list on the product label to determine if any sugar has been added and if they are comfortable with the calorie level of the food they wish to purchase.
On customers hiving reviews, the Tiger Foods CEO agreed that it is the right of the consumer to review the product they use without fear or favour.
“Such reviews should not be subjective with the intention to demarket and scare away existing and potential consumers of the brand”
“Consumer reviews strengthen companies to improve their products and services. That is one of the primary reasons most companies have Consumer Care or Research & Development Department,” he added.
Mr Ebubeogu whose company recently introduced Tiger Tomato Stew Mix, which contains dehydrated tomatoes, onion, pepper and natural spices said there is no need to add sugar to its own tomato product because the aromatic spices like Nutmeg, Thyme, Clove and Ginger in it already countered the acidity.
He called on Nigerians to continue trusting made in Nigeria goods as it has been established many times that products made in Nigeria stand tall above the imported ones because of the stringent regulation and control by NAFDAC and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria.
“Consumers should, therefore, have faith in and trust the process that produces most of the goods made in Nigeria,” he concluded.
