Food fortification is the process of adding micronutrients to food. Bio fortification differs from ordinary fortification as it focuses on making plant foods more nutritious as the plants are growing, rather than having nutrients added to the foods when they are being processed.
Fortification is the addition of minerals, such as Iron, Iodine, Zinc, Vitamins A & D , to staple foods such as rice, milk and salt to improve their nutritional content.
Advantages
- It is a simple, proven, cost-effective and complimentary strategy in use across the globe.
- The draft Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2016 , prescribe the standards for fortification of salt, oil, milk and rice.
- It will provide nutrients may or may not present in the food before processing
- Will help in achieving the goal of “Sick-Care” to “wellness” envisaged in national health policy 2017
- Road map for achieving Sustainable development goal of No Poverty, Zero hunger and Good health and Well-being
- Indian workforce which is plagued by menace of malnutrition will have significant impact and will provide economic gain
- Infant mortality, under five mortality and maternal mortality will be tackled and move towards healthy India.
- Due to its easy adaptability government will be able to provide food fortification with little or no change in present policy framework
- Decrease future diseases, physical retardation and increase cognitive abilities. Food fortification is an effective tool of battling menace of malnutrition and boosting health index of India. It should be effectively implemented on ground.
why imp for India:
“The control of micronutrient deficiencies is an essential part of the effort of the Government to fight hunger and malnutrition in the country.” As deficiency leads to risk factors that may cause various diseases like TB, Anemia, etc. Food fortification can play important role in dealing with this.
