Invited Commentary Governments and academic institutions play vital roles in food fortification: iron as an example

Common sense dictates that we should learn from our failures. However, reporting ‘failure’ is more difficult than reporting ‘success’ and it is generally less rewarding, thus there are fewer opportunities to learn from failures than from successes. A study from Brazil in the current issue of this journal reports that iron fortification of flour had no impact on anaemia in children and it is likely that this will be viewed as a ‘failure’. The global community working to reduce undernutrition has agreed that food fortification programmes should be prioritized for sharply increased funding. World-renowned economists brought together through the Copenhagen Consensus identified iron fortification of staples as one of the ‘best-buys’ among the thirty interventions considered for addressing the ten great challenges facing global development. Therefore the reported ‘failure’ of iron fortification to reduce anaemia in Brazil presents an opportunity to learn and discuss what is indeed needed to improve our practice. Food fortification is the addition of vitamins and minerals to foods to prevent or correct demonstrated inadequacies in diets. It is critically important in the design and evaluation of food fortification programmes to realize that positive health outcomes are directly affected by the quality and amount of nutrients added to the foods rather than just to the consumption of ‘fortified foods’.