Food and Beverages 2020

Food Fortification: Fortified For Better Health.

Fortification food help to prevent many intellectual deficiencies disabilities and diseases. The global health burden of vitamin and minerals is profound.

Can Fortification of foods with vitamins and minerals help prevent blindness and birth defects which are caused by nutritional deficiencies?

Food fortification is a proven, cost-effective intervention. Hidden hunger, also known as micronutrient deficiency, is a lack of critical vitamins and minerals. Today it affects more than a quarter of the global population – 2 billion people. Deficiency in nutrients like iron, folic acid, iodine and vitamin A can be life threatening for pregnant women and their developing infants.

Food enrichment is another term for food fortification. It involves the addition of nutrients to food. The basic aim of this addition is to address nutrient deficiencies in large segments of the population.

Food fortification is the most cost effective approach to prevent nutritional deficiencies. It also can be introduced quickly through marketing and distribution  system.

Benefits of are also readily visible. It is socially acceptable and as well as sustainable.

It does not require the person to change their eating habits and the effect is fast and broad.

It is also considered as the safest strategy as the added amount of the nutrient is low but at the same time constant.

Fortification of food is one of the best way to improve the nutrient intake of people deficient with nutrients but it has few limitations also.

• Shelf life of some products are reduced to much processing of the product. 
• Sometimes prolonged cooking of fortified foods leads to 90% loss of Vitamin C.
• It is said to be most most cost effective way but cost is such how increased and makes it a little difficult for the lower income group to purchase.