Objectives, principles guidelines and benefits of food fortification or food enrichment program

Why the food fortification program is important for the health of a community? The answer lies in the fact that 50% of metabolic diseases in developing and underdeveloped countries are caused due to malnutrition. Last year. more than 700 children died due to starvation in Thar ( Sindh ). Starvation is a principle reason for malnutrition in children of the affected regions. World food and agriculture organization have issued alarming starvation statics of some African countries although total world food production is enough to support global food requirements.

Starvation or malnutrition is specifically related to deficient food intake which ultimately results in metabolic diseases linked with micronutrient deficiency. Starvation can be lethal as it may cause permanent organ loss due to severe deficiency of water and essential nutrients. Severe malnutrition can result in the death of the affected individual.

The initiative of Food Fortification program was taken by world food and agriculture organization in 2000 to provide nutritional uplift to the striving populace of Ethiopia and other African nations. Before talking about the Food fortification program, I will discuss Food Fortification first.  

Food Fortification or Food Enrichment:

Addition of essential micronutrients or non-micronutrient bioactive compounds or elements by various techniques to raise the nutritional worth of food or food products is called food fortification or food enrichment. The food products in which extra nutrients are added are called fortified food products. Common fortifying agents are essential amino acids, proteins, vitamins, provitamins, and some minerals.  Many commercial fortified food products are available in the market with specific nutritional qualities.

Objectives of Food Fortification: 

The main objective of food fortification is the standardization of nutritional food contents and cure of nutritional deficiency related to metabolic disorders caused by most common micronutrient malnutrition i.e iron, vitamin A and iodine as well as other less prominent contributors like zinc, vitamin D, folate and lysine.   For example, hypovitaminosis  Essential and non-essential micronutrients and bioactive components are added in food to restore lost nutrients during cooking and food processing. Food preservation by adding additional contents in food is also another important objective of food fortification.  

Public health improvement by adding extra nutritional elements in food is considered a secondary objective of food fortification.

Benefits of food fortification:

Food fortification technology is employed to prevent malnutrition and it offers a number of benefits in this regard.

Regular intake of fortified food products effectively restores required micronutrients in the body. 

Multiple nutritional deficiencies in a specific population that coexist during drought leads to impaired growth and development disorders and only Multi fortified products fulfill the nutritional requirements of that targeted population to prevent impaired fetus development (in case of pregnancy)) and other growth and metabolic disorders.

Food fortification is a cost-effective technique to improve the nutritional status of a targeted population with least toxicity effects,

Methods or Principles of Food Fortification:

According to the world food program's food fortification guidelines, the following principles of food fortification are being practiced around the globe.

The basic principles of food fortification that are internationally practiced include three basic strategies. 

1- Restoration of nutrients that lost during crop harvesting, grinding, cooking and food processing.

2- Nutritional equivalence is achieved by adding nutrients in the required concentration in a                    commercial food product which is being used as a substituent of some natural product.

3- Appropriate nutritional composition of a food product that is being  designed for a special purpose 

    should be managed properly.

Types of Food Fortification:

Following food fortification techniques are being used worldwide to enrich food with required nutrients.

1- Home Fortification

Iron, zinc, and vitamin A related micronutrient deficiencies are very common in growing kids and pregnant women. Anemia caused by the nutritional deficiency of iron can be effectively cured by iron-fortified food products.

Micronutrient powders can be used to overcome certain nutrient deficiencies. Iron salts powder and vitamin A and D drops are usually added in food and edible oils. Addition of Vitamin A and D drops in an edible oil is convenient as both are fat soluble vitamins.  Incorporation of vitamin A and D in whole milk is a better dietary practice by home fortification for normal physical and mental growth of kids.

Home fortification of food with iron salts is the best practice to overcome nutritional anemia.
Another way of home fortification is the mix cooking practice. Cereals or vegetables with characteristic nutritional contents are cooked together. This combination of different foodstuff is a traditional way of home fortification.

2- Commercial Fortification

Commercial scale fortification includes premixing strategies during grinding or milling different cereals, grains, and staples. Before packing of wheat or corn flours, micronutrients are added and mixed to raise the nutritional content of flour. Rice is commercially coated with micronutrient slurry and iodine is added in common salt for maintaining lost nutritional contents of food.

Commonly lysine is added into wheat flour commercially in developed countries.

Commercial fortification is mostly practiced in advanced countries to manage the nutritional contents of food. 

3- Biofortification

Biofortification is a modern technique of food enrichment in which desired nutrients are incorporated into the crop by using genetic modification techniques, crossbreeding different traits and application of specific mineral fertilizers.

Conventional fortification techniques have some limitations.  So, researchers are in search of a reliable technique through which bio-availability of nutrients may become easy for the human body.

Food Fortification Program in Pakistan:

Planning commission Pakistan has taken several initiatives to end malnutrition problems in Pakistan. Planning commission pakistan is working for better health and nutrition of children and women by introducing food fortificaton program. Planning commission Pakistan has launched various projects related to health and nutrition in assistance with WHO, WFP, FAO, and DFID.

The planning commission has  succussfuly managed Iodine deficiency problem by introducing iodine fortified table salt in Pakistan. Reccently, the planning commission has  launched another fortification project to overcome iron and vitamin A deficiency. Fortified edible oil and milk are introduced for this purpose. The planning commission has also  purposed fortification of flour for which PCP will contribute in legislation, technical assistance and concise guidelines.

The PCP has launched a  fact servey  project related to fortified and the PCSIR laboratory complex will provide its assistance regarding quality control facts and figures of commercial fortified products.

The planning commission has centralized both  mass fortification and targeted fortification to uplift nutritional status of populace.