Miller Magazine Issue: 124 April 2020

55 COVER STORY MILLER / APRIL 2020 school-aged children with nourishing meals can promote micronutrient adequacy in their diets, leading to enhanced nutrition and health, and a better quality of life and well- being in adulthood. 2. Workforce nutrition programs Ensuring the world’s workforce has access to nutritious food, is crucial to allow individuals to perform at their fullest potential. Providing healthy and wholesome food choices for adults at work ensures people reach the rec- ommended levels of essential micronutrients, reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases and sustaining energy levels to ensure their performance at full capacity. This can in turn reduce accident and absenteeism rates, thereby in- creasing productivity. These programs are a compelling part of the solution to ad- dress hidden hunger and are important for business returns and economic growth. For instance, there are 350,000 workers in Singapore who are at risk of malnutrition. 21 To deliver essential micronutrients to this target population through staple food fortification, DSM and BOP Hub — a Singapore-based business accelerator platform that aims to end poverty — launched the ‘45Rice’ project in 2016. Not only has the initiative been effective in combating hidden hunger, but a worker survey also showed that 90% of re- spondents approved of the fortified rice they were offered. Taking the next steps While hidden hunger continues to be a major public health concern worldwide, staple food fortification in formats such as school feeding and workforce nutrition programs offers an effective, long term approach to addressing wide- spread micronutrient deficiencies on a global scale. It sup- ports adequate nutrient intakes to promote the cognitive and physical development of children, as well as health and wellbeing of adults — leading to a better performance in school and at work. This has the potential to lower unemployment and sick day rates, and reduce the pressure on healthcare systems globally. Partnering with companies who have a long history of working in the food fortification space, can offer govern- ments, NGOs and donors the support they need to select and successfully implement the best-suited fortification method and program, while also measuring results effec- tively. DSM has been promoting and actively engaging in staple food fortification for decades, providing its technical and scientific capabilities to its partners, as well as supply- ing them with high-quality, reliable and traceable micro- nutrient solutions. Together, the public and private sectors have the power to eliminate hidden hunger and achieve zero hunger by 2030 (SDG 2), creating a better and more sustainable future for all. For further information on effective food fortification, visit www.nutritionimprovement.com o r contact Yannick@ Foing@dsm.com . References: 1 World Health Organization, ‘The World Health Report 2002: re- ducing risks, promoting healthy life: overview.’, [report], 2002. 2 A. Sommer, ‘Vitamin A Deficiency and Its Consequences: A Field Guide to Detection and Control. Geneva’, World Health Organi- zation, 1995. 3 Vitamin D council, ‘What is vitamin D?’, [website], 2011 https:// www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/what-is-vita- min-d/. 4 U.S. Institute of Medicine. ‘Dietary Reference Intakes for Vita- min C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids’, [website], https:// www. nap.edu/catalog/9810/dietary-reference-intakes-for-vi- taminc-vitamin-e-selenium-and-carotenoids. 5 E. B. Rimm et al., ‘Antioxidants for vascular disease’, Med Clin North Am, 2000, vol. 84, issue 1, p. 239-249. 6 World Health Organization, ‘Recommendations on wheat and maize flour fortification. Meeting Report: Interim Consensus State- ment.’, [report] http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/ micronutrients/wheat_maize_fort.pdf. 7 Food Fortification Initiative, Country Profiles, www.ffinetwork. org/country_profiles/index.php, November 2018. 8 Food Fortification Initiative, Country Profiles, www.ffinetwork. org/country_profiles/index.php, November 2018. 9 Op. cit. (Food Fortification Initiative, Global Progress). 10 FFI Food Fortification Initiative. Accessed 11.2018 on www.ffi- network.org/implement/toolkit.html. 11 Food Fortification Initiative (FFI).2017. Cost-effectiveness of Grain Fortification. http://ffinetwork.org/why_fortify/docu- ments/Cost-effectiveness_2017.pdf. 12 Food Fortification Initiative (FFI).2017. Cost-effectiveness of Grain Fortification. http://ffinetwork.org/why_fortify/docu- ments/Cost-effectiveness_2017.pdf. 13 World Health Organization, Fortification of Rice, [web- site], http://www.who.int/elena/titles/rice_fortification/en/, accessed March 2020. 14 World Health Organization, FORTIFICATION OF RICE WITH VITAMINS AND MINERALS AS A PUBLIC HEALTH STRATE- GY, https://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/guidelines/ rice-fortification-executive-summary.pdf?ua=1 15 Sight and Life, ‘Scaling Up Rice Fortification in Latin Ameri- ca and the Caribbean’, [website], 2017, https:// sightandlife. org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ScalingUp-Rice-Fortifica- tion-WFP-Rice-Fortification-ENG.pdf. 16 Degarege D, Degarege A, Animut A. Undernutrition and associated risk factors among school age children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:375. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1714-5. 17 Wolde M, Birihan Y, Chala A. Determinants of underweight, stunting and wasting among schoolchildren. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:8. https://doi. org/10.1186/s12889-014-1337-2. 18 WHO, ‘Global anemia prevalence and number of individuals affect- ed’, [website], https://www.who.int/vmnis/anaemia/prevalence/ summary/anaemia_data_status_t2/en/ (accessed 25 April 2019). 19 Grantham-McGregor S, Ani C. A review of studies on the ef- fect of iron deficiency on cognitive development in children. J Nutr. 2001;131(2):649–666. 20 Nokes C, van den Bosch C, Bundy DAP. The Effects of Iron Defi- ciency and Anemia on Mental and Motor Performance, Educational Achievement, and Behaviors in Children. An Annotated Bibliogra- phy. Washington, DC: INACG and ILSI Press; 1998. 21 YouTube, ‘Fortifying migrant workers in Singapore’, https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=kelrvGcFa5c&t=2s, accessed March 2020.