Section 3 Food Fortification

Chapter 6

Abstract

Food Fortification through

Vlaic Romina Alina, Mureşan Crina Carmen, Muste Sevastita,

The chapter aims to approach food fortification naturally as a result of the need for nutritional improvement and therefore underlines sustainable activities that would facilitate effective fortification. The need to fortify food is due to the close link between human, health, and food. The WHO and FAO and other internationally recognized organizations have recognized that there are over 2 billion people worldwide suffering from a variety of micronutrient deficiencies. The interest in the fortification of foods is largely due to bioactive compounds, such as vitamins, minerals, sugars, organic acids, dietary fiber, phenolic compounds, essential amino acids, and antioxidants. The most effective and accessible way of securing the population with vitamins and micronutrients is to fortify additional food and consumer products daily. At the same time, the technology for the fortification of

In accordance with the General Principles for the Addition of Essential Nutrients to Foods [1] Codex, the term fortification or enrichment is synonymous to the addition of one or several essential nutritional elements for a food product, regardless of whether it is or not habitually contained in foods, toward the prevention or correction of proven deficiencies in one or more nutrients, either for the entire population or certain specific groups. The General Principles Codex further states as the primary condition mentioned in the fulfillment of any such fortification program to be the initial demonstration of the requirement for an increase in the nutrient intake essential to the population or to the target group. This demonstration can rely on real clinical or subclinical studies of deficiency, estimates of the low levels of nutrient intake, or possible deficiencies triggered by changes in standard food

Food fortification has been implemented for a long period of time in industrialized countries to achieve the successful control of vitamin A and D deficiencies, several B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin), as well as iodine and iron. Salt irrigation was introduced in the early 1920s both in Switzerland [2] and the United States [3] and has progressively expanded worldwide since salt iodine is presently

Mureşan Andruţa, Muresan Vlad, Suharoschi Ramona,

Innovative Technologies

Petruţ Georgiana and Mihai Mihaela

bakery products will also be presented.

1. Introduction

products [1].

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Keywords: food, fortification, nutrients, advanced technologies
