Adequate intake of folic acid by women during very early pregnancy can markedly reduce risk of the development of neural-tube defects (NTD). The effectiveness of advice to women to take folic acid supplements is limited, mainly because 50% of pregnancies are unplanned. However, mandatory folic acid food fortification programmes in North America have been very successful in reducing NTD rates. I...

Determining the micronutrient contents infortified foods depends not only on the health goal (additional intake to complement the diet), but also on ensuring that fortification does not raise micronutrient intakes beyond the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL), i.e., the safe limit. Technological incompatibility and cost may also restrict the fortification contents. For folic acid, the limiting f...

BACKGROUND Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is an important nutritional problem in India, resulting in an increased risk of severe morbidity and mortality. Periodic, high-dose vitamin A supplementation is the WHO-recommended method to prevent VAD, since a single dose can compensate for reduced dietary intake or increased need over a period of several months. However, in India only 34 percent of targe...

after iron deficiency, zinc deficiency is the major micronutrient deficiency in developing countries, and staple food fortification is an effective strategy to prevent and improve it among at-risk-populations. no action has been taken to reduce zinc deficiency via flour fortification so far in iran, and little is known about the influence of zinc fortification of flour on serum zinc and the iro...

Targeted fortification programs for infants and young children are an effective strategy to prevent micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries, but the role of large-scale fortification of staple foods and condiments is less clear. Dietary modeling in children aged 6-60 months was undertaken, based on food consumption patterns described in the 2009 national food consumption survey, usin...

INTRODUCTION In order to address population-level mild iodine deficiency in Australia, a mandatory iodine fortification programme of salt used in bread was introduced in late 2009. METHODS A before-after study was conducted to assess changes in median urinary iodine concentration (MUIC) measurements, according to supplement use, in convenience samples of pregnant women attending a public ante...

This study was aimed to evaluate the impact of the fortification of biscuits with carp fish protein concentrate (CFPC) and shark fish protein concentrate (SFPC). The results show that the protein and total ash content increases by increasing the fortification level of both types of fish protein concentrate compared to the control sample. The crude fiber and carbohydrate of biscuit samples decre...

UNLABELLED Micronutrient malnutrition is widely prevalent in school children in India. India's national school feeding program, the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme, is the largest in the world and caters to 120 million children in primary schools. Complementary strategies such as deworming or fortifying meals provided through the MDM scheme could increase the nutritional impact of this program. India...

Lack of monitoring capacity is a key barrier for nutrition interventions and limits programme management, decision making and programme effectiveness in many low-income and middle-income countries. A 2011 global assessment reported lack of monitoring capacity was the top barrier for home fortification interventions, such as micronutrient powders or lipid-based nutrient supplements. A Manual for...

The aim of the present investigation was to search for a reduction in birth prevalence estimates of 52 selected types of congenital anomalies, associated with folic acid fortification programs in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. The material included 3,347,559 total births in 77 hospitals of the three countries during the 1982-2007 period: 596,704 births (17 hospitals) in Chile, 1,643,341 (41 hosp...