Fortification of Sugar *

Sugar (sucrose) is a food ingredient that provides a source of carbohydrates and a desirable sweet taste. It is consumed in all parts of the world as an ingredient of food and beverages to provide energy, to improve their organoleptic qualities, and/or to contribute specific technologic advantages. ⁴² The sugar generally used for these different purposes is highly refined to yield a pure food ingredient with excellent storage qualities whose only nutritional contribution is energy. Therefore, foods that are made up essentially of sugar as a major ingredient, provide mainly calories. An example of these types of products would be confectionery products that contain 60 to 100% sugar. One of the nutritional problems posed by excessive consumption of high-sugar containing products is that they take the place in the diet of other foods which provide proteins, vitamins, and minerals besides energy. Therefore, since there is a definite number of calories that individuals should consume depending on age, sex, and level of energy expenditure, the excessive intake of high-energy foods, either dilutes the nutritional quality of the diet making it difficult to meet nutritional requirements, or if added as extra calories to the diet, it will result in an undesirable body weight increase. The nutritional consequences of such dietary behavior is easy to recognize and define in its extreme situation, i.e., frequent consumption of large quantities of foods containing considerable amounts of sugar. It is not simple, however, to identify and quantitate human health effects of occasional consumption of a food containing moderate amounts of sugar. Although, the nutritional risk in this latter situation is probably nonexistent, it is still a debatable issue. ⁴³