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OBJECTIVE To determine if the fortification of wheat and maize flours with iron and folic acid - which became mandatory in Brazil from June 2004 - is effective in the prevention of neural tube defects. METHODS Using data from national information systems on births in central, south-eastern and southern Brazil, we determined the prevalence of neural tube defects among live births and stillbirt...

BACKGROUND Fortification offers great potential for reducing the enormous disease burden of micronutrient deficiencies. The lack of information on food consumption patterns has been a major impediment to the development of fortification programs. In some countries, the absence of this information has been an obstacle to the introduction of fortification. In countries that have fortification, go...

Several strategies have been identified to address micronutrient malnutrition, including dietary diversification, nutrient supplementation, increased public health measures, and food fortification. Of these, food fortification is the most effective intervention to deliver vitaminand mineral-rich food to a large population. Fortification involves adding minute quantities of nutrients, such as vi...

In our recent paper ‘Does prenatal exposure to vitamin D-fortified margarine and milk alter birth weight? A societal experiment’ published in British Journal of Nutrition we explored the association between a national vitamin D fortification programmes of margarine and milk and birth weight. Based on available official documents from the Nordic Council of Ministers the initiation of vitamin D f...

OBJECTIVE To quantify the health and economic outcomes associated with changes in folic acid consumption following the fortification of enriched grain products in the USA. DESIGN Cost-effectiveness analysis. SETTING Annual burden of disease, quality-adjusted life years (QALY) and costs were projected for four steady-state strategies: no fortification, or fortifying with 140, 350 or 700 micr...

BACKGROUND In July 2004, the Brazilian Ministry of Health through the National Health Surveillance Agency made the fortification of wheat flour and cornmeal (maize flour) with iron and folic acid mandatory, with the intention of reducing the rate of diseases such as neural tube defects. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of the folic acid fortified wheat flour and co...

BACKGROUND Preterm infants fed fortified human milk (HM) grow more slowly than those fed preterm formulas. These differences could be related to the variability in the macronutrient composition of expressed HM, resulting in inadequate nutrient intake in relation to the estimated needs of the preterm infants. OBJECTIVES The aim of this article was to show the variability in HM composition from...

The purpose of this review is to examine the need for and appropriate level of Fe fortification of infant formula, and to assess any adverse effects of Fe fortification. The appropriate level of Fe fortification of infant formula has been established through studies of Fe absorption or erythrocyte incorporation of Fe, and through clinical trials of formulas with varying levels of Fe that were a...

The Australian government recently introduced mandatory folic acid fortification of bread to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs). The economic evaluation of this policy contained a number of limitations. This study aimed to address the limitations and to reconsider the findings. Cost-effectiveness analysis was used to assess the cost and benefits of mandatory versus voluntary fol...