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THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2010 8 By Rebecca Ring Micronutrient malnutri- tion or hidden hunger and how it affects public health and economic development will be discussed by Evert- ons Quentin Johnson at the Eden Mills Natural World Speaker series on Thurs- day, January 14 from 7 to 8:30 pm at the Eden Mills Community Hall. Johnson has been study- ing and working with food for over 35 years, begin- ning in the milling and baking industry. Current- ly, is a self-employed food and nutrition consultant, bringing his knowledge and expertise to third world countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. His goal is to implement micronutrient fortifica- tion of staple foods, which Hidden hunger discussion at upcoming Eden Mills Natural World Speaker series ANew Year Social Everyone welcome Sunday, January 10th 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Victoria Park Seniors Centre 150 Albert St. W. Fergus Wellington-Halton Hills MPPTed Arnott A New Year Social means adding vitamins and minerals to foods such as wheat and maize flour, rice and vegetable oil. His work takes him all over the world he has travelled to 79 countries in the last 12 years. Johnson says that much of the worlds popula- tion suffers from hidden hunger; people are get- ting food but not adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals. This lack of adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals has a significant impact on the health of populations in developing countries especially women and children, he said. There are higher rates of maternal and infant mortality and cognitive development in children is impaired. If a pregnant woman gets inadequate folic acid, her baby may develop neural tube defects resulting in spina bifida. Micronutrient mal- nutrition is one of the leading hidden obstacles which prevent popula- tions in the developing world from reaching their human potential and hold back countries in their economic development, he says. The solutions are inexpensive and feas- ible because they build on existing food consumption patterns and habits and have been shown to be cost effective. Food fortification is taken for granted in North America, as flour, mar- garine, milk and more is fortified or enriched with vitamins A and D, iron, folic acid, etc. Johnson works with food produ- cers, governments, NGOs, and international agen- cies, such as UNICEF, World Health Organization World Food Program, and the World Bank to design and implement food for- tification programs. One of his great success stories is the wheat flour fortifi- cation program in Egypt. To feed the population, the Egyptian government implemented a subsidy program, which provides staple foods such as bread and vegetable oil at signifi- cantly reduced prices. Of the 77 million population, 55 million people buy their food through this program. Over the last three years, Johnson and his team have worked with the govern- ment to introduce iron and folic acid in the bread and vitamin A in the vegetable oil. For more information, contact Johnson at quen- tin@quican.com or visit http://quican.com. Seven drunk drivers arrested Seven drivers were ar- rested and charged with impaired dr iv ing by Wellington OPP at holi- day R.I.D.E. (Reduce Impaired Driving Every- where) spot checks over the holiday season. Across the OPP West Region, officers checked over 1,174,224 vehicles on OPP patrolled road- ways during this years Festive R.I.D.E. initiative that ran from November 27 through to January 4. OPP officers issued 432 administrative driv- ers licence suspensions (ADLS) for criminal code related drinking and driv- ing offences and a further 709 ADL suspensions for a blood/alcohol concen- tration (BAC) in the .05 and .08 range. OPP laid a total of 5,329 charges as a result of this years initiative, 298 of which were for impaired driving, over .08 BAC or for refusal to comply with a demand to provide a breath sample. The re- maining 5,031 charges were for other Criminal Code, Highway Traffic Act, or Liquor Licence Act offences. New to this years Fes- tive R.I.D.E. program was the Ontario legis- lation which increased drivers licences suspen- sion periods issued for a BAC between .05 and .08. Previously considered in the warn range, the legislation introduced in May 2009 prescribes that drivers now subject to a licence suspension which gradates from a minimum three to seven then 30 days for that level of BAC. While it appears that the message is slowly get- ting across to drivers, there are still people who think they are sober enough to drive when they arent, said OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino in response to the 2009 statistics, the only truly safe level of al- cohol consumption for drivers is none. In Wellington Coun- ty, OPP stopped 55,543 vehicles, issued 20 warn- ing range suspensions and seven people were charged with impaired driving or over 80 or re- fusal. Police laid 109 other charges including Crim- inal Code, Highway traffic Act, Liquor Licence Act- and there was one fatal accident. SHARING HEALTH: Food and nutrition consultant Quentin Johnson will speak at the Eden Mills Com- munity Hall next Thursday at 7 p.m. He is shown here (right) in Egypt where he worked with others to get vitamins and minerals added to staple foods. - Submitted Photo ????????? ????? ? ???? ??????????