Food fortification
[2] Food fortification has been identified as the second strategy of four by the WHO and FAO to begin decreasing the incidence of nutrient deficiencies at the global level.
[4] Food fortification can also be categorized according to the stage of addition: Micronutrients serve an important role in bodily development and growth.
[1] A significant statistic that led to these efforts was the discovery that approximately 1 in 3 people worldwide were at risk for either an iodine, vitamin A, or iron deficiency.
[10] In Argentina, wheat flour must by law (Ley 25.630 of 2002)[11] be fortified with iron, thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), and folic acid (B9).
[14][15] The Philippine law on food fortification has two components: mandatory (covering select staples)[16] and voluntary (under the Sangkap Pinoy program).
[20] In the 1920s, food fortification emerged as a strategy in the United States to address and prevent the lack of micronutrients in the population's diet.
Under the programs, grains and other commodities made available to countries selected for participation will be fortified with micronutrients (e.g., iron, vitamin A, iodine, and folic acid).
On the other hand, the nutrient added as a fortificant may have a higher bioavailability than from foods, which is the case with folic acid used to increase folate intakes.
[citation needed] There is a concern that micronutrients are legally defined in such a way that does not distinguish between different forms, and that fortified foods often have nutrients in a balance that would not occur naturally.
[medical citation needed] Many foods and beverages worldwide have been fortified, whether a voluntary action by the product developers or by law.
To fortify a product, it must first be proven that the addition of this vitamin or mineral is beneficial to health, safe, and an effective method of delivery.
[27] Examples of foods and beverages that have been fortified: "Iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) is the single greatest cause of preventable mental retardation.
[...] Today over 1 billion people in the world suffer from iodine deficiency, and 38 million babies born every year are not protected from brain damage due to IDD.
"—Kul Gautam, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF, October 2007[28]Iodised salt has been used in the United States since before World War II.
Research trials have shown the ability to reduce the incidence of NTDs by supplementing pregnant mothers with folic acid by 72%.
[31] Niacin (a form of vitamin B3) has been added to bread in the US since 1938 (when voluntary addition started), a program which substantially reduced the incidence of pellagra.
[medical citation needed] Diseases associated with niacin deficiency include pellagra which consisted of signs and symptoms called the three D's-"dermatitis, dementia, and diarrhea."
[33] Common diseases which present a high frequency of niacin deficiency include alcoholism, anorexia nervosa, HIV infection, gastrectomy, malabsorptive disorders, certain cancers and their associated treatments.
[35] This discovery led to the fortification of common foods such as milk, margarine, and breakfast cereals in the USA and in some European countries (some of which later forbade the practice due to finding neonates suffering from vitamin D intoxication).
[37][38] In the mid-1900s it was discovered that towns with a high level of fluoride in their water supply was causing the residents' teeth to have both brown spotting and a strange resistance to dental caries.
