2.6. Food fortification

Question 1

What is food fortification?

Answer 1

• deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) in a food, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health”

Question 2

what are the 4 types of food fortification?

Answer 2

Biofortification
Synthetic biology
Commercial fortification
Domestic fortification

Question 3

NAme some foods that are commonly fortified?

Answer 3

-staple foods - they contribute to an important part of the diet to people who may be at risk of micronutrient deficiency.
-wheat, maize (corn), rice and also salt.

Question 4

What is biofortification?

Answer 4

Breeding crops to increase their nutritional value, which includes both plant breeding and genetic engineering

Question 5

synthetic biology?

Answer 5

Improving the nutritional value of foods using interdisciplinary techniques.

Question 6

what is commercial fortification?

Answer 6

The addition of nutrients to food products e.g flour, rice, oils

Question 7

what is domestic fortification?

Answer 7

Taking additional nutrients e.g. vitamin D tablets

Question 8

How does biofortification improve the nutritional quality of agricultural food crops?

Answer 8

-agronomic practices
-conventional plant breeding
-modern biotechnology

Question 9

What are the aims of biofortification?

Answer 9

aims to increase the nutrient levels in crops during plant growth, whereas conventional fortification involves the manual increase of nutrients during the processing of the crops.

Question 10

Examples of biofortification of staple foods?

Answer 10

-Iron-biofortification of rice, beans, sweet potato, cassava and legumes
-Zinc-biofortification of wheat, rice, beans, sweet potato and maize
-Provitamin A carotenoid-biofortification of sweet potato, maize and cassava
-Amino acid and protein-biofortification of sorghum and cassava

Question 11

Examples of biofortification of staple foods?

Answer 11

-Iron-biofortification of rice, beans, sweet potato, cassava and legumes
-Zinc-biofortification of wheat, rice, beans, sweet potato and maize
-Provitamin A carotenoid-biofortification of sweet potato, maize and cassava
-Amino acid and protein-biofortification of sorghum and cassava

Question 12

Examples of biofortification of staple foods?

Answer 12

-Iron-biofortification of rice, beans, sweet potato, cassava and legumes
-Zinc-biofortification of wheat, rice, beans, sweet potato and maize
-Provitamin A carotenoid-biofortification of sweet potato, maize and cassava
-Amino acid and protein-biofortification of sorghum and cassava

Question 13

Examples of biofortification of staple foods?

Answer 13

-Iron-biofortification of rice, beans, sweet potato, cassava and legumes
-Zinc-biofortification of wheat, rice, beans, sweet potato and maize
-Provitamin A carotenoid-biofortification of sweet potato, maize and cassava
-Amino acid and protein-biofortification of sorghum and cassava

Question 14

What does synthetic biology ?

Answer 14

enables an idea to be developed into a product in a faster, cheaper and more precise process than was previously possible.

Question 15

What do synthetic biologists study?

Answer 15

-how farming could be transformed by creation of crops that have greater amounts of nutrients, require less water to grow, can survive in a variety of climates and and require less chemicals.

Question 16

Why do the world health organisation say its important to be concerned about micronutrient deficiency?

Answer 16

because
-large numbers of people are affected by micronutrient deficiency
-micronutrient malnutrition is a risk factor for many diseases

Question 17

Why are micronutrients added to some foods during comercial fortification

Answer 17

-to address the problem of low food intakes of a particular vitamin or mineral,
- to differentiate them from similar foods e.g. calcium, added to orange juice, fibre added to yoghurts.

Question 18

Examples of foods that have been fortified with micronutrients across the world?

Answer 18

-Vietnam - fish sauce fortified with iron to prevent anemia
-USA - iodization of salt to prevent goitre
-Venezuela - wheat and maize flour fortified with vitamin A, B and iron

Question 19

what is food supplementation?

Answer 19

the provision of relatively large doses of micronutrients, usually in the form of pills, capsules or syrups

Question 20

Advantages of food supplements?

Answer 20

-they can supply an optimal amount of a specific nutrient or nutrients, in an easily absorbable form.
-Means they are the quickest way to solve a deficiency in a micronutrient

Question 21

Examples of population groups that may require the use of supplementation?

Answer 21

-Women before conception and during pregnancy-
Folic acid and vitamin D, and possibly iron
-Children under the age of 5-
Vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, - although children with a good appetite who eat a wide variety of food may not need supplements
-Vegans-
Vitamin B12, vitamin D2

Question 22

Advantages of food fortification?

Answer 22

• fortification of widely consumed foods can lead to rapid improvements in the micronutrient status of a population.
• fortification process is usually at a reasonable cost
  -Fortification of widely consumed products does not require a change in eating habits of the population.
  -In most countries food fortification can be achieved through the private sector and so the delivery system for fortified foods is already in place.
  -It is possible to fortify foods with multiple micronutrients and so alleviate multiple micronutrient deficiencies.
  -When the fortification process is regulated there here is a minimal risk of toxicity.

Question 23

Disadvantages of food fortification

Answer 23

-If the fortified food is not consumed by all members of a target population when the impact will not be widespread.
- if the fortified food is targeted at whole population, everyone is exposed to increased levels of micronutrients in food, irrespective of their needs- may lead to excess
-Populations with very low incomes tend to have multiple micronutrient deficiencies and may not be able to obtain their recommended intakes of all micronutrients from fortified foods alone.
-the process of fortification affects the sensory properties of foods,

Question 24

Examples of food fortification as a public health intervention

Answer 24

-Fluoride added to drinking water-helps reduce tooth decay levels in population
-Iron and b vitamins added to white and wheat flour to protect against nutrient deficiences

Question 25

Examples of food fortified to ensure nutritional equivalence in substitute foods?

Answer 25

-margarine used as sub for butter- fortifed with vit A and D
-Soy milk used as sub for cow milk- fortifed with calcium, iodine and B vitamins

Question 26

Examples of food fortified to ensure vitamin/ mineral content in foods required for special dietary requirements

Answer 26

-Low sodium products are fortified with iodine

Question 27

Criticisms of food fortification?

Answer 27

-fortified food products are ususally heavily processed and are high in sugars/ fats/ sodium which can lead to health problems like obesity