Food fortification or enrichment is the process of adding micronutrients (essential trace elements and vitamins) to food. It can be carried out by food manufacturers, or by governments as a public health policy which aims to reduce the number of people with dietary deficiencies within a population. The predominant diet within a region can lack particular nutrients due to the local soil or from inherent deficiencies within the staple foods; the addition of micronutrients to staples and condiments can prevent large-scale deficiency diseases in these cases.
As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), fortification refers to "the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) in a food, to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and to provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health", whereas enrichment is defined as "synonymous with fortification and refers to the addition of micronutrients to a food which are lost during processing".
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. As outlined by the FAO, the most commonly fortified foods are cereals and cereal-based products; milk and dairy products; fats and oils; accessory food items; tea and other beverages; and infant formulas. Undernutrition and nutrient deficiency is estimated globally to cause the deaths of between 3 and 5 million people per year.
Fortification is present in common food items in two different ways: adding back and addition. Flour loses nutritional value due to the way grains are processed; Enriched Flour has iron, folic acid, niacin, riboflavin, and thiamine added back to it. Conversely, other fortified foods have micronutrients added to them that don't naturally occur in those substances. An example of this is orange juice, which often is sold with added calcium.
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The course will deliver basic knowledge on the principles of food fermentation and enzyme technology. The course will also present benefits that food biotechnology can bring in terms of Nutrition & He
Micronutrients are essential dietary elements required by organisms in varying quantities throughout life to orchestrate a range of physiological functions to maintain health. Micronutrient requirements differ between organisms; for example, humans and other animals require numerous vitamins and dietary minerals, whereas plants require specific minerals. For human nutrition, micronutrient requirements are in amounts generally less than 100 milligrams per day, whereas macronutrients are required in gram quantities daily.
Phytic acid is a six-fold dihydrogenphosphate ester of inositol (specifically, of the myo isomer), also called inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) or inositol polyphosphate. At physiological pH, the phosphates are partially ionized, resulting in the phytate anion. The (myo) phytate anion is a colorless species that has significant nutritional role as the principal storage form of phosphorus in many plant tissues, especially bran and seeds. It is also present in many legumes, cereals, and grains.
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Explores the historical impact of iodine deficiency on human health and the success of global iodine fortification programs.
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Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for many living organisms particularly due to its unique redox properties. We recently found that the sulfur (S) analog for dimethyl selenide (DMSe), i.e. dimethyl sulfide (DMS), reacts fast with the marine oxida ...
Subsurface chlorophyll maxima layers (SCML) are ubiquitous features of stratified aquatic systems. Availability of the micronutrient iron is known to influence marine SCML, but iron has not been explored in detail as a factor in the development of freshwat ...