Food fortification strategies to deliver nutrients for the management of iron deficiency anaemia

A rising trend in the global prevalence of anaemia is still prevailing. To combat micronutrient deficiencies, World Health Organisation/Food Agriculture Organisation (2006) guidelines recommended four chief strategies - supplementation, fortification, nutrition education and dietary diversity. Of the four strategies, food fortification has been considered as the most efficacious and economical approach. However, it is the directives themselves that highlight two major bottlenecks associated with conventional fortification -uniform dissemination of the fortifier in food vehicle that mostly include staple foods, and internal and external compliance evaluation of fortification regulations and standards by the producers. As a result, researchers envisaged a new strategy -Food -to-food fortification that complements conventional fortification. This strategy involves fortification of food vehicles with nutrient-rich food-based fortifiers. The major advantage of utilising food-based fortifiers is that they hold the potential of enhancing the bioavailability of the fortified food and providing additional nutrients and thus, resulting in dietary diversification. It also facilitates the utilisation of underutilised crops as food-based fortifiers. Underutilised crops have been recognised as potential beneficial food source accounting to their nutritional, ecological, and fiscal benefits. This review paper delves into the strengths and shortcomings of conventional iron fortification. It delineates the concept of food-to-food fortification, while precisely discussing about the best practices to be followed to address the possible challenges associated with this strategy. It also promotes the utilisation of underutilised iron rich foods to develop fortified foods and avert global food inse-curity. Furthermore, it provides a summary of the studies conducted around the world to develop fortified foods using iron compounds and iron-rich foods, and to investigate their efficacy in managing iron deficiency anaemia.

Automated summary

This paper discusses the rising trend of anaemia and the recommended strategies to combat micronutrient deficiencies. It highlights the advantages of food fortification as the most efficacious and economical approach, but also identifies two major bottlenecks associated with conventional fortification. To address these challenges, a new strategy - food-to-food fortification is proposed, which involves fortification of food vehicles with nutrient-rich food-based fortifiers. The paper promotes the utilization of underutilized crops as food-based fortifiers and provides a summary of studies investigating the efficacy of fortified foods in managing iron deficiency anaemia.