Strengthening food
In a recently held conference on fortified foods and supplements, Sunil Bhaskaran, MD, Indus Biotech, addressed the emerging trends and opportunities in the fortified food industry. Purabi Naha reports
Proper nutrition contributes to effective socio-economic progress of the country. Studies have indicated that certain segments of the population suffer from one or more nutrient deficiencies, which can have an adverse impact on the overall health status of the nation.
Certain foods may provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. 'Functional foods' (or nutraceuticals) represent a fast-emerging concept that describes foods that have been 'identified' or 'designed' to help in preventing or retarding certain diseases. Functional foods normally include those that are believed to have potential health benefits as they exist in nature (for example, tomatoes for lycopene and fish for omega-3 fatty acids) and processed foods that have been specially modified to provide health benefits. Foods with special ingredients added to provide health or physiological benefits (probiotics) or nutrients added to enhance growth of specific organisms (prebiotics) also come under this segment. Functional foods also include new types of food products, such as those produced by microbiological fermentation to increase health benefits (examples include soya milk and fortified cereals).
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established standards that specify appropriate fortification levels of nutrients such as thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, and iron in grain products, vitamins A and D in milk and iodine in salt. Nutrient stability under normal conditions of storage and use is one of the important factors in determining the effectiveness of food fortification.
Speaking on the need for fortification in the conference, Sunil Bhaskaran, MD, Indus Biotech, explained that if we look at pre-industrial diet, it was rich in calories, dense in nutrients and exceptionally bio-diverse. At that time, there were no nutritional deficiency diseases. On the other hand, if we look at the post-industrial diet, it is mostly processed food - rich in calories and lean in nutrients. Elimination of bio-diversity, nutritional crisis and emergence of nutritional deficiency diseases are other problems that are encountered now. Explaining the importance of fortification and how US realised it, he said, "There was 40 per cent prevalence of goitre in US in early 1920s. Then there was fortification of table salt with iodine in 1924. It decreased below 10 per cent and was completely eliminated in US in 1930. Vitamin
