A professor of nutrition and dietetics, Olivia Afam-Anene, has explained how consumers can manage the outbreak of Tuta Absoluta, also known as tomato ebola, a pest that has destroyed tomato farms across some states in the country. The development is said to have caused an increase in the price of tomatoes in the market.
In an interview with a correspondent, Afam-Anene said, “On how consumers can manage this situation, they can use alternative sources. In place of tomatoes, they can eat white rice with sauce, not tomato sauce. They can also use ripe pawpaw and carrot to make sauce. Tomatoes are rich in vitamin A. The alternatives are also rich in vitamin A. Fat helps in transporting the soluble vitamins. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, if one puts it in oil, it will even help in transporting it more.”
Speaking on the diverse narratives on sachet tomatoes, she stated, “We don’t believe in hearsay. I have not done research on that, and people cannot make claims that sachet tomatoes are not good. These are just allegations. What some people do not know is that most of these sachet tomato companies have farms where they go to buy the materials for their products.
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