Miller Magazine Issue: 136 April 2021

65 MILLER / aprıl 2021 COVER STORY Cereals are important food vehicles for fortification. Though several foods could be used for carrying micro- nutrients, wheat flour and maize meal are excellent vehi- cles because they are staple foods in many parts of the world and key ingredient in so many food preparations. When micronutrient deficiencies are population-wide and result from a combination of low intake and/or low bioavailability, fortification of commonly consumed cere- al flours with iron, folic acid and other vitamins offers a number of strategic advantages. In many situations, ce- reals flours are the best choice for fortification because they are widely and regularly consumed, and mostly processed in centralized facilities with established dis- tribution and marketing capacity. Due to these reasons, grain fortification has played a major role in improving the health of the world populations at large. Currently, over 80 countries now fortify flour. Advantages of Flour and Maize Meal as Fortification Vehicles • They are food staples, consumed in significant quan- tities by all age groups and economic classes at nearly every meal. This makes them ideal vehicles for getting deficient nutrients to the general population. • Most of the micronutrients being added are naturally present in the whole grain but greatly reduced by the milling refinement process. Many fortification programs simply call for restoring deficit nutrient levels to that con- tained in the whole grain. • Fortification at the flour or maize mill is fairly simple and easy to control and regulate. • The mills producing the bulk of the flour and maize meal are large, modern and centrally located. • Some micronutrients, like folic acid and other B vi- tamins, are ideally suited for addition to milled cereals. • The milling equipment, design and quality control procedures for flour fortification have all been devel- oped and are readily available. • Fortification of wheat flour and maize meal is an es- tablished and proven public health measure with wide- spread support by the medical and milling communities. • Cereal fortification is safe because a person cannot eat enough fortified flour or maize meal to exceed the upper safety levels of micronutrient intakes. • Fortification at the mill is relatively inexpensive and affordable. It will not noticeably impact the cost of the food to the consumer; yet the public will eventually pay for it with a small, overall price increase. When flour or maize meal is fortified at the mill, it causes all the many products made from that flour at hundreds or thou- sands of bakeries and food preparation sites to be fortified as well. That makes mill fortification much more efficient than bakery fortification, or even distribution of supplements. Once the milling infrastructure is in place to fortify flour, it is cost-effective to fortify flour with other nutrients in ad- dition to folic acid. Flour is also routinely fortified with iron, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin. Some countries also add vitamin D, vitamin B12, vitamin A, and zinc to flour. Many studies have established that fortifying flour with folic acid and iron costs less than 25 US cents per person per year. SOURCE: The Food Fortification Initiative (FFI)