Food Fortification Policies in the Asia Region by Dennis Bittisnich, Food Fortification Initiative. Presented at the ReSAKSS-Asia - MIID conference "Evolving Agrifood Systems in Asia: Achieving food and nutrition security by 2030" on Oct 30-31, 2019 in Yangon, Myanmar.

1. Food fortification
policies in the Asia
region
Dennis Bittisnich
Food Fortification Initiative
October 2019
Yangon, Myanmar
Photo: www.my-sisters-house.org

2. Overview
1. Overview: FFI partners, objectives, activities
2. Global status of mandatory fortification
legislation
3. Asia country status

3. Food Fortification Initiative
(FFI)
Network of partners who:
Champion implementation of fortified flour,
salt and rice globally through public,
private, and civic sector partnerships

4. FFI focus is on mandatory policy and legislation
• Most sustainable approach to supplying micronutrients
• Availability to majority of consumers – but not all
• Equal costs across competitors
• Based on international guidelines
• Support industry and government compliance & enforcement

5. Applying mandatory fortification policy & standards
• Nutrient needs and level differ by country
• must be appropriate to the country’s nutrient deficiency and food
consumption – including regionally
• Food types and use differ by country
• wheat flour, rice, oil, maize; industrial vs small scale
• Nutrient compounds may differ by country
• fortificant compounds must be bioavailable
• Government monitoring capacity differs
• Industry compliance capacity differs
For more specific details, visit FortificationData.org

6. Policy and technical support based on
international standards

7. + +
=
Maize flour
www.the-gluten-free-chef.com
Oil
www.mediaite.com
Salt
thekingscrumbs.wordpress.com
Wheat flour
www.importexportplatform.com
Rice
www.onepointdestination.com
FORTIFICATION DATA INFORMATION - GFDX

8. • GFDx is a visualization tool of data collected by partners or
otherwise reported
• Aims to empower global fortification community make data-
driven decisions on food fortification policies and programs
• Data can be feely downloaded
FortificationData.org

9. GFDx data includes:
Indicators currently
available:
Health impact
pre/post
fortification
Indicators coming in
2020:
Fortification
Legislation
Fortification Standards
Food Intake/
Availability
Regulatory Monitoring
Protocols
Fortification
Compliance/Quality
Population Coverage
% Industrially
Produced
Legislative
Scope

10. Mandatory fortification
globally…
https://FortificationData.org
• 117 countries for salt
• 82 countries for wheat flour
• 25 countries for oil
• 16 countries for maize flour
• 7 countries for rice

11. Salt fortification
Mandatory (39)
Voluntary (4): Brunei
Darussalam, Malaysia, Pakistan
Asian Region (incl NE/Central Asia)
*GFDx has combined the Middle East region with Asia. Only listed here are countries within Asia and Pacific

12. Wheat flour fortification
Mandatory* (19): Australia, Fiji,
Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines,
Viet Nam, Solomon Islands
Voluntary* (9): China, India, Malaysia,
*GFDx has combined the Middle East region with Asia. Only listed here are countries within Asia and Pacific

13. Oil fortification
Mandatory* (6): Bangladesh,
Philippines, Viet Nam
Voluntary* (6): Australia, China,
India, Indonesia, New Zealand
*GFDx has combined the Middle East region with Asia. Only listed here are countries within Asia and Pacific

14. Rice fortification
Mandatory (3): Philippines ,
PNG and Solomons
Voluntary* (3): Bangladesh,
India
*GFDx has combined the Middle East region with Asia. Only listed here are countries within Asia and Pacific

15. Maize flour fortification
Low consumption of maize
flour in the region and/or low
industrial food processing of
maize

17. Country Wheat Flour / Rice Fortification Status
Legislation
✓ Mandatory legislation/standards
X No mandatory legislation/standards
Standards
✓ Standards (existing or proposed) follow
WHO guidelines for at least iron and folic acid
X Existing standards could be improved for
improved public health benefit

18. Indonesia
• Mandatory legislation since 2001
• But wheat flour Standard (SNI) does not follow WHO recommendations
• Studies undertaken in 2017/18 to update SNI; new SNI requires
bioavailable iron compounds
• New SNI currently voluntary not mandatory
Legislation ✓
Standards X
Nutrients Previous New as of 2018 WHO
Iron 50 (compound not
specified)
50 (as ferrous
sulfate, ferrous
fumarate, NaFeEDTA)
60 (as ferrous sulfate, ferrous
fumarate)
40 (as NaFeEDTA)
Folate 2 (as folic acid) 2 (as folic acid) 2.6 (as folic acid)
Zinc 30 (compound not
specified)
30 (as zinc oxide) 55 (as zinc oxide)
*Standar Nasional Indonesia. Tepung terigu sebagai bahan makanan. SNI 3751:2018

19. Malaysia
• Voluntary standards for fortification gazetted July 2017
• Draft mandatory legislation still pending
• Government not willing to pay for fortificants for all producers
• Proposed only applies to flour in < 25 kg bags
• Opens gap in fortification coverage since bulk flour used
processing
Legislation X
Standards ✓
Nutrients New proposed (mg/kg) WHO (mg/kg)
Iron 60 (as ferrous fumarate) 60 (as ferrous sulfate, ferrous fumarate)
40 (as NaFeEDTA)
Folate 2.6 (as folic acid) 2.6 (as folic acid)
Zinc Not included 55 (as zinc oxide)
*Assumes Malaysia’s availability is 75-149 g/c/d; at this level electrolytic iron not recommended.
Personal communication to FFI from the Ministry of Health

20. Mongolia
• May 2018: Food fortification law
passed
• October 2018: Resolution
stating salt and wheat flour as
foods required under the law
• 2019: Standards for wheat flour
and salt being drafted
• 2020: Fortification
implementation
Legislation X
Standards X
Law of Mongolia. About Fortified Foods. May 3, 2018.

21. Philippines
• Mandatory wheat flour legislation since 2001
(not aligned with WHO)
• National Nutrition Council (NNC) has pending
resolution to add folic acid
• Approval stalled due to requests for national
nutrient retention studies
• Wheat flour millers willing and technically
capable of incorporating folic acid immediately
Legislation ✓
Standards X
Legislation ✓
Standards X

22. Sri Lanka
Legislation X
Standards X
• Cabinet brief
approved mandatory
fortification of wheat
flour
• Standards and
timeline ae pending

23. Viet Nam
• Mandatory decree
passed in 2016,
effective 2018
• Wheat flour processors
resisting adoption
• Mixed messages about
the status of Decree
Legislation ✓
Standards X
Photo: A representative of Acecook speaks at the workshop on food fortification in
HCMC on June 25. © Vietnam Net

24. Mandatory fortification
programs are most
successful if they:
Use recommended nutrient
compounds and concentrations
Optimize coverage and
consumption
Are well implemented and
compliance monitored
istockphoto
FFI 2015

25. Solomon
Islands
• FFI assisted wheat flour and rice
fortification policy /
implementation
• Strong support by wheat flour
miller and main rice importers
• New rice fortification standard
adopted Dec 2018 - implemented
May 2019 - first shipment in June
Legislation ✓
Standards ✓
Legislation ✓
Standards ✓

26. For more information:
E-mail Dennis: d.bittisnich@gmail.com
E-mail Becky: becky.tsang@ffinetwork.org
Also see:
FFInetwork.org
Facebook.com/FFInetwork
Twitter.com/FFInetwork
And join our group on
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/food-
fortification-initiative/