2.6. Food fortification Flashcards
What is food fortification?
- 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”
what are the 4 types of food fortification?
Biofortification
Synthetic biology
Commercial fortification
Domestic fortification
NAme some foods that are commonly fortified?
-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.
What is biofortification?
Breeding crops to increase their nutritional value, which includes both plant breeding and genetic engineering
synthetic biology?
Improving the nutritional value of foods using interdisciplinary techniques.
what is commercial fortification?
The addition of nutrients to food products e.g flour, rice, oils
what is domestic fortification?
Taking additional nutrients e.g. vitamin D tablets
How does biofortification improve the nutritional quality of agricultural food crops?
-agronomic practices
-conventional plant breeding
-modern biotechnology
What are the aims of biofortification?
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.
Examples of biofortification of staple foods?
-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
Examples of biofortification of staple foods?
-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
Examples of biofortification of staple foods?
-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
Examples of biofortification of staple foods?
-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
What does synthetic biology ?
enables an idea to be developed into a product in a faster, cheaper and more precise process than was previously possible.
What do synthetic biologists study?
-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.
Why do the world health organisation say its important to be concerned about micronutrient deficiency?
because
-large numbers of people are affected by micronutrient deficiency
-micronutrient malnutrition is a risk factor for many diseases
Why are micronutrients added to some foods during comercial fortification
-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.
Examples of foods that have been fortified with micronutrients across the world?
-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
what is food supplementation?
the provision of relatively large doses of micronutrients, usually in the form of pills, capsules or syrups
Advantages of food supplements?
-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
Examples of population groups that may require the use of supplementation?
-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
Advantages of food fortification?
- 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.
Disadvantages of food fortification
-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,
Examples of food fortification as a public health intervention
-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
Examples of food fortified to ensure nutritional equivalence in substitute foods?
-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
Examples of food fortified to ensure vitamin/ mineral content in foods required for special dietary requirements
-Low sodium products are fortified with iodine
Criticisms of food fortification?
-fortified food products are ususally heavily processed and are high in sugars/ fats/ sodium which can lead to health problems like obesity
