Food fortification

Nutrient enrichment is the enrichment of foods with micronutrients.

Objectives

The objectives of nutrient enrichment are according to the World Health Organization:

• Prevention or minimization of the risk of occurrence of micronutrient deficiency in a population or population group
• Contribution to alleviating micronutrient deficiency in a population or population group
• Can improve one 's nutritional status, which is suboptimal because of dietary habits or
• Additional benefits to improve health

Molding

Nutrient enrichment can be divided into

• Mass accumulation: mandatory and aimed at the general population.
• Targeted enrichment: mandatory or voluntary, targeted at specific groups.
• Market-based enrichment: aligned voluntary and either the total population or specific groups.
• Other forms

Mass accumulation

In the mass enrichment of one or more micronutrients ordinary and vielkonsumierten foods are added, such as cereals or milk. This accumulation is usually initiated by the state and regulated. Mass enhancement is the best option if the majority of the population is exposed to an unacceptable deficiency. Even mass accumulation can be useful if, although there is no lack, but benefits are expected from the enrichment. An example is the well-established in Canada, the United States and many countries in Latin America enrichment of wheat flour with folic acid to reduce the risk of birth defects.

Targeted enrichment

During the specific enrichment foods are enriched, which are consumed by certain groups of the population to increase their supply. Examples are the allocation of fortified foods to school children through school programs, or the care of refugees with fortified foods by the World Food Programme.

Market-based enrichment

Companies in the food industry may also accumulate in food statutory framework. This form of enrichment is relatively more common in industrialized countries than in developing countries. Fortified foods provide a substantial source of micronutrients such as iron and vitamin A and vitamin D in the European Union dar.

With the anticipated increase in market-based accumulation in developing countries are associated some concerns. First fortified foods could worsen food habits, such as increase the consumption of sugar and reduce of fiber. Secondly, could be a lack of regulation in developing countries lead to an oversupply of individual micronutrients.

Other forms

In some countries, methods are developed and tested, in which the household level foods are enriched and thus there are similarities with the supplementation. This expertise includes detachable tablets, powders and spreads. These methods are expensive compared to the mass accumulation, but can be administered targeted to specific groups, such as young children. Even mass accumulation is not always possible.

The biofortification is the fortification of staple foods through plant breeding. Examples are cereals with increased iron and beta carotene content.