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What constitutes the fortification of products
Table of Contents
1. Strengthening definition and type
According to the WHO (World Health Organization) definition, fortification is the practice of intentionally increasing the amount of a necessary micronutrient (e.g. vitamins, minerals, including trace elements) in a food in order to improve its nutritional value and to provide health benefits to the population at a minimum health risk (L. Allen et al., 2006). However, a product may be enriched with a given ingredient regardless of whether it is naturally present or not. The following types of fortification are distinguished: fortification consists of products in which the product remains in the manufacturing process or during the production process can be used to increase the health benefits of a particular ingredient. In the case of a specific product, it is compulsory to regulate or maintain the health of a given group of ingredients.2. Legal conditions
If a part of the documents is common to several countries (e.g. European Union countries), each of them has its own additional rules resulting from the nutritional status of the population, the dietary habits and the capabilities of the country concerned. In Poland, the current legal acts governing fortification are the Food Safety and Nutrition Act of 25 August 1925, Regulation (EC) No. 2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006. Regarding the use of vitamins and minerals and other nutrients in foodstuffs, the Act of Parliament of 16 December 2006 stipulates that additives and mineral substances may be added to the foodstuff at the same time.3. Fortified products
In Poland, compulsory fortification is regulated on a wide scale. In each country, the aforementioned Decree of the Minister of Health of 16 September 2010 looks slightly different, mainly because of the different needs and nutritional model. In Asian countries, rice is popularly enriched, while in the United States and Canada, breakfast cereals and flour are commonly consumed in this area. In Poland compulsive fortification has been regulated by the previously mentioned Decree on 16 September 2010.4. Health benefits and risks
It has been observed that the effect of fortification on the health of populations in both developed and developing countries is rather positive. However, it should be remembered that it is only a tool to support anemia (from iron deficiency), willfulness (i.e. increase in iodine deficiency) or fetal neural tube defects (which occurs when folic acid deficiency occurs in the mother's body) However, since it is a tool that supports anemia, in the case of a deficient diet, it has been shown that there is even a tendency to increase the quantity of fortified nervous tissue that can lead to a decrease in the body's remaining fat deficiency (e.g. to an increase in the number of fat deficiencies in the fetal tube).5. Fortified products and dietary supplements
Despite a similar function (providing vitamins and minerals, etc.) to compensate for potential deficiencies or prevent them from occurring, the concept of dietary supplement and fortified food are not the same. Both are included in the food group. fortified foods are traditional foods, and supplements can be found in the form of vitamins, powders, ampoules, drops, etc. In addition, fortified products, in addition to these additives and ingredients, provide other natural ingredients than dietary supplements.
