Table Contents

– Definition
– Introduction
– Why Food Fortification?
– Benefits of Food Fortification
– Types of Food Fortification
– Limitations of Food Fortification
– Conclusion

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FOOD FORTIFICATION

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 Definition
Fortification is the
addition of key vitamins
and minerals such as
iron, iodine, zinc,
Vitamin A & D to staple
foods such as rice, milk
and salt to improve
their nutritional
content.
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 Introduction

• Fortification is the practice of deliberately

increasing the content of one or more
micronutrients (i.e., vitamins and minerals) in a
food or condiment to improve the nutritional
quality of the food supply and provide a public
health benefit with minimal risk to health.
• Fortified foods are those that have nutrients added
to them that don't naturally occur in the food.

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5
 Why Food Fortification
• 70% of people in India do not consume
enough micronutrients such as vitamins
and minerals.
• About 70 percent of pre-school children
suffer from anaemia caused by Iron
Deficiency and 57 percent of preschool
children have sub–clinical Vitamin A
deficiency.

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 Why Food Fortification
• Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) are the most
common congenital malformation with an
incidence that varies between 0.5-8/1000
births.
• It is estimated that 50-70% of these birth
defects are preventable. One of the major
causes is deficiency of Folic Acid.

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 Why Food Fortification
• Thus, deficiency of micronutrients or
micronutrient malnutrition, also known as
“hidden hunger”, is a serious health risk.
Unfortunately, those who are economically
disadvantaged do not have access to safe and
nutritious food.
• Others either do not consume a balanced diet
or lack variety in the diet because of which
they do not get adequate micronutrients.
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 Why Food Fortification
• Often, there is considerable loss of nutrients
during the processing of food. One of the
strategies to address this problem is
fortification of food.
• This method complements other ways to
improve nutrition such as such as
diversification of diet and supplementation of
food.

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 Benefits of Food Fortification
• Since the nutrients are added to staple
foods that are widely consumed, this is an
excellent method to improve the health of a
large section of the population, all at once.
• Fortification is a safe method of improving
nutrition among people. The addition of
micronutrients to food does not pose a
health risk to people.

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 Benefits of Food Fortification
• The quantity added is so small and so well
regulated as per prescribed standards that
likelihood of an overdose of nutrients is
unlikely.
• It does not require any changes in food
habits and patterns of people. It is a socio-
culturally acceptable way to deliver
nutrients to people.

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 Benefits of Food Fortification
• It does not alter the characteristics of the
food—the taste, the feel, the look.
• It can be implemented quickly as well as
show results in improvement of health in a
relatively short period of time.
• This method is cost-effective especially if
advantage is taken of the existing
technology and delivery platforms.

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 Benefits of Food Fortification
• The Copenhagen Consensus estimates that
every 1 Rupee spent on fortification results
in 9 Rupees in benefits to the economy.
• It requires an initial investment to purchase
both the equipment and the vitamin and
mineral premix, but overall costs of
fortification are extremely low.

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 Types of Food Fortification
Mass fortification:
• In mass fortification, fortification is done in
a food that are consumed by the general
public.
• Mass fortification is considered best when
majority of population has an unacceptable
risk (public health risk) related to
nutritional deficiency.

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 Types of Food Fortification
Targeted fortification:
• In targeted fortification, fortification is only
done in those foods that are specifically
aimed at specific sub-groups of the
population.
• Examples: complementary foods for infant
and young children, foods for school
feeding program.

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 Types of Food Fortification
Market driven fortification:
• In market driven fortification, food
manufacturer adopts a business-oriented
initiative to add/fortify the food with certain
micronutrients.
• Although this sort of fortification is voluntary,
the manufacturer must abide by the
government-set regulatory limits for
fortification.
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 Types of Food Fortification
Household and community fortification:
• Household and community fortification
refer to the fortification of foods with one
or more micro-nutrient at household level.
• This approach is also considered as a
combination of supplementation and
fortification.

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 Limitations of Food Fortification
• Food fortification may overshadow the
importance of dietary diversity if it is
considered as a long-term solution to micro-
nutrient deficiency.
• These may extend from beginning up expenses
and the expenses of leading preliminaries for
micro-nutrient levels, physical characteristics,
and taste, to a practical investigation of the
acquiring intensity of the plausible recipients.

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 Limitations of Food Fortification
• In some foods, the shelf life of foods is reduced
due to fortification.
• In some cases, especially in market-driven
fortification, the manufacturers may fortify
highly junk and relatively unhealthy foods in
order to attract the consumers.

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 Conclusion

 Food fortification is defined as the process of

deliberately adding/increasing the content of
essential micro-nutrients in a food in order to
improve the nutritional quality of the food.
 Simply, food fortification refers to the addition of
micro-nutrients to the food.

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To
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