ABSTRACT
Combat Micro Nutrient Malnutrition (MNM) ........................... 298 10.6 Limitations of Fortification ........................................................ 298 10.7 Conditions for Successful Fortification Programs ..................... 299 10.8 Summary .................................................................................... 299 Keywords .............................................................................................. 300 References ............................................................................................. 301
10.1 INTRODUCTION
Fortification is the practice of adding essential vitamins and minerals (e.g., Iron, vitamin A, folic acid, iodine) to staple foods to improve their value and nutritional content. Fortification is a safe, effective mode to improve public well-being that has been used around the world since the 1920s. Normally fortified foods include staple products such as salt, maize flour,
wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oil, and rice. Many diets, especially those of the poor, contain inadequate amounts of vitamins and minerals, which leads to micronutrient deficiency. Since most populations in resource-poor settings do not have access to adequate amounts of food, food fortification is a useful and inexpensive option. One of the most fundamental decisions underlying food fortification scheme is selecting suitable foods to be fortified with the essential micronutrients, deficient in a population’s diet. Criteria to identify potential food fortification vehicles generally include selecting a food that is commonly eaten by the target groups, is affordable and accessible all year long, and is processed in such a manner that fortification is technically feasible and can be done economically. Staple foods such as wheat flour, rice and sugar have been popular foods to fortify to address micronutrient deficiencies in several developing countries.
