Food fortification offers an affordable, convenient, and effective mechanism to improve the nutrition status of large segments of a population. However, the success of fortification has been less than public-health professionals and private-sector companies alike have hoped for, though often for different reasons. As new opportunities are available, success will be dictated by the ability of pu...

BACKGROUND Older people are at increased risk of vitamin B12 deficiency and the provision of fortified foods may be an effective way to ensure good vitamin B12 status in later life. AIM To evaluate the effectiveness of a vitamin B12 fortified food provided by a national program of complementary food for older people on plasma vitamin B12 levels. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A random sub-sample of 3...

BACKGROUND Recent European Union regulation requires setting of maximum amount of micronutrients in dietary supplements or foods taking into account the tolerable upper intake level (ULs) established by scientific risk assessment and population reference intakes. OBJECTIVE To collect and evaluate recently available data on intakes of selected vitamins and minerals from conventional foods, foo...

BACKGROUND One way to diminish protein malnutrition in children is by enriching cereal-based flours for the manufacturing of maize tortillas, wheat flour tortillas, and yeast-leavened breads, which are widely consumed among low socio-economic groups. OBJECTIVE The aim was to determine and compare the essential amino acid (EAA) scores, protein digestibility corrected amino acid scores (PDCAAS)...

Fe fortification of centrally manufactured and frequently consumed condiments such as bouillon cubes could help prevent Fe deficiency in developing countries. However, Fe compounds that do not cause sensory changes in the fortified product, such as ferric pyrophosphate (FePP), exhibit low absorption in humans. Tetra sodium pyrophosphate (NaPP) can form soluble complexes with Fe, which could inc...

The present randomised trial investigated the effects of feeding Zambian infants from 6 to 18 months old either a richly or basal micronutrient-fortified complementary/replacement food on gut integrity and systemic inflammation. Blood samples were obtained from all infants (n 743) at 6 and 18 months for the assessment of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP). A subsample...