Fortified Food
Introduction
enriched food
Who will benefit from fortified foods
Purpose of food fortification
Iodine deficiency disorders
Fortification of flour
Main methods of food fortification
Fortification prevents and treats iron deficiency and nutritional anaemia
Criticism (Side Effect)
Future Challenges of Food Fortification
2. Content
Introduction
enriched food
Who will benefit from fortified foods
Purpose of food fortification
Iodine deficiency disorders
Fortification of flour
Main methods of food fortification
Fortification prevents and treats iron deficiency and nutritional
anaemia
Criticism (Side Effect)
Future Challenges of Food Fortification
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3. introduction
Fortified foods are those that have nutrients added to them that
don’t naturally occur in the food. These foods are meant to
improve nutrition and add health benefits. For example, milk is
often fortified with vitamin D, and calcium may be added to
fruit juices.
Fortified food has been defined as the addition of one or more
essential nutrients to a food, whether or not it is normally
contained in the food, for the purpose of preventing or
correcting a demonstrated deficiency of one or more nutrients
in the population or specific population groups (FAO/WHO
1994).
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4. enriched food
An enriched food means that nutrients that were lost
during processing are added back in. Many refined grains
are enriched. Wheat flour, for example, may have folic
acid, riboflavin, and iron added back in after processing.
This is intended to restore its original vitamin levels.
Enrichment is defined as "synonymous with fortification
and refers to the addition of micronutrients to a food which
are lost during processing"
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5. The Big Five……..
Iodine deficiency is the single most preventable cause of
mental retardation and brain damage.
Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of acquired
blindness in children and impairs immune function.
Severe zinc deficiency causes short stature, impairs immune
function and other disorders
Iron deficiency is one of the most prevalent nutrient
deficiencies in the world; it affects an estimated two billion
people, and causes almost a million deaths a year.
Folic acid prevents birth defects of the brain and spine, such
as spina bifida.
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6. Who will benefit from fortified foods
Food fortification is an industrial process. The industry
ensures provision of essential vitamins and minerals
according to government standards and regulations.
Fortified foods reach all those who have access to the market
and purchase their staple food/ oil/ salt.
This includes the urban poor, a fast growing group in many
developing countries in Africa and Asia.
Those who do not have access to fortified, packaged
commercially processed foods need to receive essential
vitamins and minerals through alternative mechanisms. This
may include provision of multiple micronutrient powder
sachets (“sprinkles”) or supplements, as well as social safety
net approaches, which use fortified foods.
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7. Fortification of flour
Fortification is define as “the practice of deliberately increasing the
content of an essential micronutrient, ie. vitamins and minerals
(including trace elements) in a food, so as to improve the
nutritional quality of the food supply and to provide a public health
benefit with minimal risk to health”, whereas enrichment is defined
as "synonymous with fortification and refers to the addition of
micronutrients to a food which are lost during processing".
During the 1940s, Britain and the USA started enriching flour as a
means to improve the health of their populations during World War II.
While fortification of flour was never really embraced in Europe,
countries all around the world started flour fortification in the late
20st and early 21st century. To date, more and more countries are
adopting this measure.
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8. Continue…
In Canada, the Food and Drug Regulations have outlined
specific criterion which justifies food fortification:
To replace nutrients which were lost during manufacturing of
the product (e.g. the manufacturing of flour)
To act as a public health intervention
To ensure the nutritional equivalence of substitute foods (e.g.
to make butter and margarine similar in content, soy milk and
cow's milk, etc.)
To ensure the appropriate vitamin and mineral nutrient
composition of foods for special dietary purposes (e.g., gluten-
free products, low sodium, or any other products specifically
designed for special dietary requirements from an individual)
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9. Main methods of food fortification
Biofortification (i.e. breeding crops to increase
their nutritional value, which includes both
plant breeding and genetic engineering)
Microbial biofortification and synthetic biology
(i.e. addition of probiotic bacteria)
Commercial and industrial fortification (i.e.
flour, rice, oils)
Home fortification (e.g. vitamin D drops)
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10. Examples of fortified foods
Milk with Vitamin D
Salt with Iodine
Fruit juice with Calcium
Water or toothpaste with fluoride
Flour with Folic Acid
Bread with Niacin
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11. Some other examples of fortified foods
Calcium is frequently added to fruit juices,
carbonated beverages and rice
White rice is frequently enriched to replace
lost nutrients during milling
"Golden rice" is a variety of rice which has
been genetically modified to produce beta
carotene
Amylase rich flour is utilized for food
making to increase dietary consumption
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12. Purpose of food fortification
Improve nutritional quality of food
Reduce nutritional disorders
Fortification for body building
Fortification for medical treatment
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13. Iodine deficiency disorders
Iodine deficiency is the world’s most prevalent,
yet easily preventable, cause of brain damage.
In certain regions of Switzerland, 0.5% of the
inhabitants were cretins, almost 100% of
schoolchildren had large goiters, and up to 30% of
young men were unfit for military service owing
to a large goiter
Iodization of salt was introduced in Switzerland in
1922. The USA quickly followed.
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14. Fortification prevents and treats iron deficiency and nutritional
anaemia
In children:
Iron deficiency impairs cognitive development
in children
This mental capacity is never regained and in
turn limits academic performance and future
earnings potential.
Childhood anaemia globally is associated with
a 2.5% drop in wages in adulthood.
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15. Fortification prevents and treats nutritional
anemia
In adults:
Iron deficiency reduces productivity
In 10 developing countries, annual physical
productivity losses due to iron deficiency was
up to 3% of GDP
Anaemia contributes to maternal death
In developing countries, one-fifth of perinatal
mortality and one-tenth of maternal mortality
are attributed to iron deficiency
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16. Criticism (Side Effect)
Several organizations such as the WHO, FAO, Health
Canada, and Nestlé Research acknowledge that there
are limitations to food fortification.
Fortification of nutrients in foods may deliver excessive
amounts of nutrients to some individuals, with
consequent side effects.
One example is fluoride, which can cause irreversible
staining to the teeth.
Another example is iron, as fortification intended to
benefit women may result in too much iron
consumption by men.
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17. Future Challenges of Food Fortification
1. Create community awareness about benefits of
food fortification.
2. Private Sector, Governments & International
Agencies need to make commitments for
investing in food fortification.
3. Ensure increased availability of fortified foods
to the vulnerable groups of populations.
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18. Continue…..
4. Governments & International Agencies should
encourage fortification by way of tax
concessions or duty rebates.
5. Regulatory authorities to recommend Uniform
Food Fortification Guidelines to the group
countries.
6. Develop Technologies that will produce the
Futuristic food.
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19. References:
Prof. H.S.Shinde, “Food Fortification or Enrichment”,
https://www.slideshare.net/harshrajshinde1/enrichment-and-
fortification
Park K. Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine. 21st
ed. Jabalpur(India): Banarsidas Bhanot Publishers; 2011
Kishore J. National health programme of India, 10th edition,
century publications.
http://www.gainhealth.org/events/staple-food fortification-
crucialfight-against-malnutrition- India
https://www.slideshare.net/francoisstepman/large-scale-
food-fortification
https://www.slideshare.net/itsvaibhav/food-37492331
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