Jakarta – The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned the Indonesian government that its move to abolish wheat flour fortification could put the country's women and children at risk of micronutrient deficiencies.

"Indonesia will miss an opportunity to protect high-risk groups from micronutrient deficiencies, which can lead to a higher susceptibility of morbidity, impaired mental and physical development," the UN body said in a statement Friday. It also warned of a higher prevalence of neutral tube defects at birth.

A flour fortification program started in Indonesia in the early 1980s and is currently practiced by more than 50 nations. Iron, zinc, thiamine, riboflavin and folic acid are typically added.

Indonesia's Industry Ministry lifted a 2001 law on the mandatory fortification of all flour traded in the world's fourth most populous nation last month in a bid to reduce the market price of flour, UNICEF said. It said the move would permit the importation of unfortified wheat flour, despite fortification being the cheapest and most sustainable way of addressing malnutrition.

"The cost of fortification is just pennies per metric ton, and the benefits of investment in micronutrient fortification far outweigh the costs," the agency said, noting that young children and reproductive-aged women have the highest risk of developing deficiencies.

Rice and sago are typical staples in Indonesia, but annual wheat flour consumption per capita is predicted to increase from 15 to 30 kilograms over the next decade, the agency said. Wheat flour plays an increasingly important role in the Indonesian diet as more people are frequently consuming noodles and breads.