Fortified Functional Foods Flashcards
What is the definition of fortification?
The addition of nutrients to foods irrespective of whether or not they were originally present within the food
What is the definition of fortification enrichment?
Added nutrients to replace ones that were lost during processing
What is the definition of fortification substitution?
Added nutrients to produce a substitute product with similar nutritive value
What is the definition of fortification supplementation?
Extra nutrients in liquid or pill form given in higher doses than fortified foods
What are some examples of fortified foods?
Plant milk - Calcium, iodine
White flour - iron, calcium, niacin, thiamin, folic acid
Breakfast cereals - Vitamins D, C, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, iron
Margarine - Vitamin A and D
Salt - Iodine
What is the purpose of fortifaction?
- restore nutrients lost during processing
- increase nutritional value of foods
- improve the diet of specific populations
Is breakfast cereal fortification mandatory or voluntary? What about margarine? Flour?
Breakfast cereals - Voluntary
Margarine - Mandatory
Flour - Mandatory
Is white flour required by law to be fortified with folic acid?
Yes
What are some safety and technical considerations of fortifying food?
- intakes of the nutrient already from unfortified foods
- risk of excessive intakes of added nutrients by ‘extreme’ consumers of that food
- anticipated consumption of the fortified food by populations
What are the 2 main regulations set by the EU regulation policy for food fortification?
- vitamins and minerals cannot be added to unprocessed foods (fruit, veg, meat)
- vitamins and minerals cannot be added to alcoholic beverages above 1.2%
What is the rationale behind fortifying flour with folic acid?
- it would increase folic acid intake of women of childbearing age
- most effective way of reaching populations with lowest folic acid intake
- prevention for NTDs
What rank is the UK for iodine deficiency from the 10 most iodine deficient nations?
7th
WHO considers what deficiency to be the ‘single most preventable deficiency in the world’?
iron deficiency
What % of UK adults suffer from vitamin D deficiency? What is the biggest factor responsible for this?
50%
Lack of sunlight
What vitamin supplement is recommended for everyone in the UK to take between October-April?
How much?
Vitamin D
10ug
What disease could vitamin d supplementation decrease?
Rickets in children
Is vitamin D margarine fortification mandatory?
Yes and vitamin A
In what 2 ways can crops be nutritionally altered?
- GM crops (inserting a specific gene from one plant into the other)
- Biofortified crops (essential micronutrients in crops are improved due to agricultural biotechnologies e.g. agronomics)
90% of what crops are GM in the USA?
Corn, soya, cotton
What are some examples of the biofortification of crops?
- iron biofortification of rice, beans, legumes
- zinc fortification of wheat, rice & maize
- provitamin A fortification of sweet potato & cassava
What are functional foods?
Fortified and enriched food defined as having health promoting benefits/disease preventing properties
What are some positive features of functional food?
- conventional everyday food
- can be consumed as a part of a normal diet
- may enhance wellbeing and health OR reduce risk of disease
- authorised and scientifically substantiated health claims
What are some examples of functional foods?
- foods containing added or reduce level of nutrients
- foods containing phytochemicals, antioxidants, fibre
- foods containing bacteria (pro/prebiotics) to promote intestinal health
What are probiotics?
What can they improve symptoms of?
Living micro-organisms which offer health benefits when taken in large amounts.
Can improve symptoms of IBS, constipation
What are prebiotics?
Non-digestible food ingredients that can stimulate the growth/activity of beneficial bacteria
How do cholesterol lowering products such as Benecol reduce cholesterol?
They contain plant sterols that compete with cholesterol in the gut therefore reducing its absorption
What is a disadvantage of fortified breakfast cereal?
Although fortified they usually contain high amounts of sugar
What are some examples of phytochemicals found in food?
Tomatoes - Lycopene
Turmeric - Curcumin
Red grapes - Resveratrol
Green tea - Catechin
