Food Fortification

Micronutrients are essential vitamins and minerals that people need to develop and maintain good health. While the best way to prevent micronutrient deficiencies is to maintain a diverse and healthy diet, nutritious foods are not always accessible or affordable to all, particularly most vulnerable groups. In fact, more than two billion people globally suffer from deficiencies of micronutrients such as iron, iodine, folic acid and vitamin A, causing serious health and economic impacts.

Our campaign takes a closer look at a complementary solution: food fortification – the addition of micronutrients to foods to correct or prevent deficiencies and improve public health. An intervention available to the food industry that could save millions of lives if done well, poor governmental oversight often results in a majority of food products not being adequately fortified even where national legislation exists. Furthermore, media reports highlight how some players in the food industry purposefully under-fortify foods to gain commercial advantage over their competitors.