Rapporteur summary slides wednesday

FIRST GLOBAL CONFERENCE
ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Symposia: Nutrition Vitamin A
Taking Stock of the Evidence: What we know
Chairperson: Barbara Underwood
Panelists: Sherry Tanumihardjo, Marjorie Haskell,Guangwen Tang
Animal Study Bioconversion Reference
Maize: β-carotene 3:1 Howe,J Nutr 2006
β-cryptoxanthin 2.8:1 Davis et al., BJN 2008
α-carotene 5.5:1 Tanumihardjo, J Nutr 2005
Human Study
Maize (n=5) 6.5:1 Li et al., AJCN 2010
(n=8) 3.2:1 Muzhingi et al FASEB J 2010
GoldenRice (n=5) 3.8:1 Tang et al., AJCN 2009
(n=24, children) 2.0:1 Tang et al., FASEB J 2010
Carrot (n=7) 15:1 Tang et al., AJCN 2005
Spinach (n=14) 21:1 Tang et al., AJCN 2005

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Taking Stock of the Evidence: What we know
Effectiveness
The effectiveness of OFSP for improving vitamin A
status in preschool children has been demonstrated

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Gaps & Constraints
Target groups and indicators of vitamin A status should
be chosen carefully to optimize chances of
demonstrating efficacy or effectiveness
Target Population: High risk VAD
Children:6-24 mo and 2-5 y
Women: pregnant and lactating
Indicator : Appropriate to measure change in vitamin A status
Dark adaptation
Breastmilkretinol concentration

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Serum retinol concentration
Olson,1981
Serum retinol concentration homeostaticallycontrolled;
not an optimal indicator of change in vitamin A status
Serum retinol concentration declines transiently in infection;
difficult to interpret; high infection rates in target populations

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
How do we maximize impact and speed delivery?
Win the community support!!!
Large scale community efficacy intervention
trials will bring the new crops to the community
daily life, gain first-hand health impact
information, and promote the acceptance

ON BIOFORTIFICATION

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Progress and challenges in iron
and zinc biofortification: status
• Genetic variability of selected staples has
been documented
• Minimum targets for iron and zinc levels
based on consumption,requirements and
bioavailabilityhave been set (30-40% EAR)
• New high iron and zinc varieties under
development
• Consumptionpatterns and human
bioavailabilityconducted in target populations

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Major challenge is to demonstrate
improved absorption and efficacy
• High level of absorption inhibitors in cereals and
legumes with no enhancers
• In absorption studies biofortified staples increased mg
Zn absorbed but not Iron mg absorbed
• No demonstration of efficacy with zinc-biofortified
crops (no sensitive biomarker)
• Proof of concept for iron biofortification (Philippines
rice study) still needs to demonstrate reduced
prevalence of iron deficiency in target populations
• Time frame to scientific consensus may be10-20 years

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
The Way Forward
• Improvement of efficacy protocols (i.e. better
control of infection, biomarkers,functional
outcomes)
• Reconsider breeding for low phytate
(particularlyfor iron)
• Iron levels in wheat and rice relatively low;
genetic engineering should be further
considered

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Building Public Trust in Transgenic
Biofortified Crops
• All scientific evidence in favour of biofortification is merely
reality. Resistance isn't based on reality but on perceptions.
• The fear of a risk is inversely correlated to actual hazard.
• In a high-stress/highly controversial environment, empathy is
the number one dimension:
– “Do you care what I care about?”
– Other factors include competence/expertise,
honesty/transparency, cultural interpretation, etc.
• In high-stress situations, people can only process a maximum
of three points.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Biofortified Crops
• Important to consider
– Messages
– Messenger
– Means that we use to communicate
• Be prepared with message: there’s no longer
any time to react
– Be the first with the messages
– Use the same messages consistently to build trust

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Biofortified Crops
• Scientific research will not carry the day,
people will rely on who they trust, opinions of
trusted peers
– Build a credibility ladder using three or more
additional sources who support your work
• Media will help generate awareness and
interest but it takes interpersonal
communicationto influence evaluation, social
trial and decision

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Symposium: Biofortification through
Agronomic Practices.
• The ultimate goal of HarvestPlus is to increase the
density of bioavailable Zn, Fe and Vitamin A in staple
foods.
• Session dealt with:
– Large areas of Zn deficientcalcareoussoilsin regions where
malnourishedpersonsreside.
• India, China, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, western US, Australia, etc.
• Significant yield loss as well as Zn poor crops
– Fertilizationto increase crop Zn and Se
– Agronomic management(fertilizers, cultivars, cropping)to
preventhighlevelsof crop Cd and As.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
• Repeated production of crops for centuries
depletessoils of available Zn. 5 t wheat grain/ha
times 25 mg Zn/kg dry grain = 125 g Zn/ha-yr.
– Zn deficient soils have only about 1000 g plant
available Zn (DTPA-extr.)/ha.
– Ultimately have to add Zn to deficient soils even if we
use breeding to improve Zn in edible crop portions.
– Added Zn is converted to unavailable forms over time.
– Grain Zn response to soil-applied Zn is slight.
– Grain Zn response to foliar Zn can be significant.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
• One problem with Zn biofortificationis that the Zn
ends up in the aleurone layer which is removed
during milling.
– Foliar Zn during late grain fill increased endosperm Zn
enough to significantly improve flour Zn.
– Still need technology to increase Zn sink in endosperm
of cereals; with Zn fertilization and genetic endosperm
storage, can achieve nutritional goals.
– Need limits on Cd in Zn fertilizers enforced in
developing nations; extreme case with Cd in Chinese Zn
product; affected many nations and others unknown.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
• Se fertilization of alkaline soils can increase crop Se.
– Se added to livestockdiets provides needed Se in human diets.
– Alternativeis supplements or biofortified foods.
– High Se natural wheat does notcommand higher price in marketeven though
it has clearly been available fromDakotas and Canada.
• Cd and As in crops is a minor problem compared to malnutrition
due to low bioavailable Fe and Zn in crops.
– Lowrice Fe and Zn strongly increases Cd bioavailability in rice diets.
– Marketlimits on Cd in durumwheat,and single dominantgene which halves
grain Cd led to adoption of lowCd genotype to keep market.
– Cd contamination of rice soils in Asia continues due to poor regs.May require
phytoextractionto remove Cd to allowsafe rice production:Japan,Chain,
Thailand,Korea.LowCd cultivars can help with problem.
– As in cooking and drinking water much more importantthan As in rice; do not
recommend breeding for lowerAs in rice exceptfor polluted Bangladeshiand
Indian fields.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Navigating the Regulatory System:
Lessons learned from Golden Rice
by Gerard Barry
• Golden Rice Progress - Carotenoid levels upto 25ug/g
• Leading Countries have policies that support the use
of modern biotechnology for national development
(e.g. India, Philippines, Indonesia, China)
• An integrated approach to Hazards Assessment and
characterization involved in producing new GM
varieties
• Way forward: efficacy , bioavailability and consumer
acceptance studies planned for the next few years.
• Planned first release and launch of Golden rice in
early 2013.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Consumer Acceptance and Delivery of Biofortified Maize in Zambia:
by Victor Manyong and Marx Mbunji
• Maize Varieties with 8ppm Vitamin A are already in the pipeline.
Goal is to reach 15ppm.
• Results show that acceptability of Maize is enhanced when there
is a message through radio or Community information
• Contrary to low acceptance of yellow maize, consumers ready to
accept orange maize when there is a Nutrition Message.
• How to keep track of the different fortification interventions? e.g.
Sugar.
• Potential for Contamination of white maize with orange maize
may downgrade the price when orange maize is introduced
• Way forward – Fast track variety testing and release, use school
feeding program and Government subsidy as an entry point for
delivery, ensure Superior agronomic traits, efficient extension
systems needed for delivery

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Developing EffectiveDelivery Systems for Biofortified Crops:
Some Thoughts on the Integrated Delivery of
Orange-fleshed Sweetpotatoin Sub-Saharan Africa
by Jan Low
• Nutrition education essential for increased frequency of
consumption. Orange Color accepted but preferences differ in
adults and children
• Retention and efficacy studies has shown that OFSP is a rich and
bioavailable source of vitamin A
• For delivery, large no of households can be reached effectively
with the less intensive model.
• Integrated approach shows agronomic competitiveness essential
• Demand creation campaign at community level essential and the
orange color is an asset.
• For successful delivery, invest in Marketing and marketing linkages
• Way forward – Building the evidence for linking Agriculture and
Nutrition with health to Maximize impact from OFSP.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Symposia: Delivering Iron and Zinc Crops:
An invisible Nutrients
• Whatdrives farmers preference ?
– Ekin Birol, HarvestPlus
• Gettingbiofortificationinto the public food
distributionsystems
– AkhterAhmed,IFRI
• SeedSystems & Marketingbiofortifiedtraits to
farmers
– Marcelle van den Kommer, Oriri Strategy &
Transformation
• Branding staple crops with invisible
micronutrients
– Ashish Wele, Nirmal Seeds India

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
• Farmers today are influenced by the agronomical
characteristics, but the challenge for the future is
how farmers can be influenced by the special traits
( nutritional).
• We have experience to deliver seeds based on the
agronomical parameters, delivering seeds with
nutritional trait is new to the seed industry.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
• Food industries for years has been marketing
products successfully with invisible traits. We
should explore these innovative marketing
/branding strategies, which can targeted at the
bottom of pyramid.
• Building strategic partnership between Public-
Private. The strategy would be to find a win- win
partnership to leverage the social goals of
HarvestPlus and the commercial goal of private
companies.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
• Opportunities:
– incorporating in Food and Nutrition security
missions.
– Public food distribution systems, school feeding
programs and other national nutritional
programs.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Weaving Biofortification into the
Global Development Agenda
• We have moved from getting the science right
to a more political phase
– Scaling up
– Achieving public health impact
• Being able to tell stories to key stakeholders
and allies now essential
– Give science a human face
– Bolster public support

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Strategies at 3 Levels
• Global
– Biofortificationengages all MDGs and multiple
development discourses
• Regional
– CAADPFramework for African Food Security puts
nutrition squarely on agenda
• National (Uganda case)
– Strong NARS
– Supportive policy framework
– Multi-stakeholderengagement

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Crafting the Narrative
• Country ownership key
• The ethical dimension
– Valuing nutritious food for everyone
– Biofortification targets most deprived, women,
children
• Some questions:
– Has “bio-” become a dirty word?
– Who are the trusted intermediaries who will help
us make the case?

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Biofortification for the
Developed World: Progress with
Antioxidants & Other Nutrients
Speakers: Sridevi Devaraj, John Finley,
Sekhar Boddupalli,Joe Cornelius
Rapporteur: Ray Glahn

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Major BiologicalAntioxidants
• AntioxidantEnzymes
Superoxidedismutase(SOD)
Catalase
Glutathione peroxidase
• AntioxidantNutrients Other
Vitamin C Curcumin
Vitamin E Cinnamon
Carotenoids AlphaLipoicAcid
Betacarotene,lycopene, Broccoli,Green Tea,Aloe vera
lutein
Flavonoids
• Non-enzymaticscavengers
Uricacid
Glutathione
Thiols in proteins

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Key Points
• Major focus on foods to help prevent heart disease,
obesity, cancer and diabetes.
• Antioxidant studies should be targeted to populations who
have increased attendant oxidative stress
• Compliance assessment should be made by measurement
of circulating antioxidant levels
• Assessment of combinations of antioxidant vitamins should
be made carefully
• Mechanistic studies and biomarkers of oxidative stress
should be assessed
• Long term safety and efficacy should be monitored
• In the future, genotype may dictate utility of antioxidants
in preventing chronic disease

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Selenium
1. The real story is often more complex than the
theory
2. Understandingnutritional chemistry is
essential
3. Understandingthe soil/plantinteraction is
essential.
4. Food selenium safer than supplements.

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Fruits and Vegetables
• Increased consumptionof Fruits and Vegetables is critical for
Human Sustainability  Diabetes, Obesity Epidemic
• Focuson taste and convenience to drive consumption;then
build on the nutrition

ON BIOFORTIFICATION
Summary: Improving Human Nutrition
with Biotechnology-Derived Soybean Traits
2010 Dietary Guidelines Recommendations
• Avoid industrial trans fat
• Substitute with MUFA and PUFA
• Reduce saturated fat in diet
• Reduce to less than 7% en.
• Substitute with MUFA and PUFA
• Consume LC sources of Omega-3
• Two 4 oz. servings of fatty fish/week
• Averageof 250mg LC PUFA/week
38 38
Soymega™
SDA Omega-3
SoybeanOil
Vistive® Gold
Low Saturate
High Oleic
Low Linolenic
SoybeanOil

Rapporteur summary slides wednesday

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