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.
Corn Fakes: The social and economic costs of the removal of micronutrients from Kellogg’s cereals
November 2019
This report builds on our ‘Cereal Offender’ investigation, which exposed Kellogg’s for reducing or removing two-thirds of essential micronutrients from their most popular breakfast cereal brands in Mexico since 2013. New analysis reveals the cereal-giant has continued to remove micronutrients from its cereal in 2019, and this report goes further to estimate the savings to Kellogg’s from this practice and the cumulative costs to Mexican society through the burden put on health. By removing key micronutrients, Kellogg’s is estimated to save $85 million USD over five years, whilst the minimum cumulative social cost to Mexico for the removal of just three key nutrients – iron, calcium and folic acid – will be $250 million USD over five years. This means for every dollar that Kellogg’s saves by de-fortifying cereals it destroys at least three dollars in value to Mexican society. With over 1.6 million children in Mexico suffering from chronic malnutrition and 1 in 4 children under five-years-old suffering from anaemia, this report calls for Kellogg’s to answer for its apparent decision to prioritise short-term profits at the expense of children and families consuming its products.
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Maizena’s missing micronutrients
September 2019
Multibillion-dollar business Unilever, which makes 23% of its turnover from food products, is vocal about its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those focused on zero hunger and good health and wellbeing. The company claims to add essential vitamins and minerals to its popular products in countries where malnutrition is prevalent. This report looks at Unilever’s voluntary initiative on fortification in Mexico, and reveals a glaring lack of consistency between the company’s commitments and its business practice when it comes to fortification. Published in partnership with Proyecto Alimente and ContraPESO, the report presents the test results of 84 samples of Maizena products in Mexico – a popular cornflour brand owned by Unilever. The findings reveal that Unilever is not fortifying its Maizena Natural product in Mexico, despitecommunicating that it fortifies all its cornflour products in Latin America with zinc, vitamin A and ‘other key micronutrients’. Micronutrients are only added to its flavoured – more processed and less healthy – atole mixes. Furthermore, results revealed that the Maizena flavoured atole cornflour products sold in Mexico do not appear to contain the levels of micronutrients displayed on their labels, especially iron (on average 15% lower than advertised) and zinc (on average 9% lower). Unilever’s public communications show it is well aware it plays a vital role in its customers’ nutritional intake, but to deliver on its promises of better nutrition, the company must act now to ensure its products live up to the fortification claims made both in its global communications and on its labels.
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Daily Bread: Are tortillas and breads in Mexico adequately fortified?
May 2019
This report explores further the issue of flour fortification in Mexico, revealing that companies that make tortillas and breads are often not using flour that complies with the law. In Mexico, flour is required to be fortified with iron, zinc, folic acid and other B vitamins. Flour-based breads and tortillas are important staple foods in the Mexican diet, with an average consumption of 57kg of tortillas and 34kg of bread per person each year. It is through these products that many people in Mexico will receive the benefits of nutrients added to the flours.This report reveals the results of testing over 500 samples from 43 different bread products and 69 different tortilla products sold by market-leading companies including Bimbo, Gruma and Walmart, for levels of iron and zinc. Our testing found that only 14% of bread products (6 out of 43) and 1.5% of tortilla products (1 out of 69) tested clearly met the minimum iron and zinc levels mandated in the flour-fortification regulation, indicating that a large majority of these products were not made with adequately fortified flour. This report calls on food processors to stop sidestepping their responsibility and step up to play a bigger role in ensuring the flour used to make their products is adequately fortified. The findings also provide a strong motivation for the new government in Mexico to strengthen the fortification regulation, and enforce the law, to ensure that people in Mexico have access to essential nutrients through their staple foods.
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Cereal offender: is Kellogg’s breaking its breakfast promises?
February 2019
Breakfast cereals are some of the most commonly fortified foods and dominate many children’s diets globally. Fortification of cereals is mostly not mandated by legislation, but driven by individual company’s commitments to improved nutrition. This report looks at the behaviour of Kellogg’s, the leading company in terms of breakfast cereal sales in Mexico, where micronutrient deficiencies are a major public health problem including amongst children. In its strategy documents Kellogg’s claims to fortify its products in line with population needs, in order to deliver healthy foods for people of all income levels in every country. However, a closer look at their product reveals that their nutrient makeup varies dramatically both across and within its product brands. More shockingly, a historical comparison of product labels shows that, since 2013, Kellogg’s has quietly reduced or removed over two thirds of all micronutrients in its five most popular cereal brands. This includes essential nutrients such as calcium, iron, folic acid, vitamin A and zinc that are lacking in Mexican children’s diets. The report calls on Kellogg’s to urgently review its practices and consistently fortify its products in line with its own policies.
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The grain of truth: industry compliance on flour fortification in Mexico
February 2019
Building on previous analysis, this report reveals the results of the first independent testing of 343 samples of 61 wheat and maize flour products sold in Mexico. For almost a decade, Mexican law has obligated companies to fortify flour with iron, zinc, folic acid and other B vitamins, but fortification can only be effective against micronutrient deficiencies if implemented properly. However, our investigation reveals that only 7% of packaged maize and wheat flours, only 4 wheat products, are fortified adequately. Despite maize representing three-quarters of the grain market in Mexico, none of the maize flour companies seem to be fortifying adequately; they are either using the wrong type of iron or are not doing enough to ensure enough iron and zinc is being added to their products. It is also worrying that even government subsidised maize flours are either not fortified at all (DIF Chiapas) or not adequately (DICONSA). These products are not only breaking the law but also completely failing to ensure most vulnerable families increase their consumption of nutritious foods. The report calls on the new government in Mexico to take a fresh look at the actions of the food industry and take corrective action to guarantee that Mexican people have access to essential nutrients through their staple foods.
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Micronutrient deficiencies in Mexico: Ironing out the kinks
November 2018
This briefing looks further into the issue of flour fortification in Mexico, specifically at whether flour companies are following the recommendations on the most effective iron sources that are set out in the Mexican legislation and by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Fortifying flours with the correct type and quantity of iron compounds can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the fortification programme in improving people’s health and alleviating nutritional anaemia. Only four out of 12 brands of nixtamilised maize flours analysed for this research were found to be using the recommended type of iron to fortify their products. The brands that were not using the recommended iron compounds include major brands in Mexico such as Maseca, Hari Masa, Maizza and many supermarket’s own brands such as Walmart’s Aurrerá. In contrast, wheat flour brands were mostly found to be using the recommended sources in their white flour products but not in their wholegrain varieties. The report concludes with a number of recommendations to the Mexican government, flour-milling industry and retailers to remediate this situation and play their part in helping to tackle this public health crisis.
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Sorting the Wheat from the Chaff: Food Fortification in Mexico
September 2018
In this report, we delve deeper into the issue of food fortification in Mexico, a country with a double burden of malnutrition. While Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, certain micronutrient deficiencies, particularly iron deficiency, continue to be a public health concern. For this reason, the Mexican government put in place legislation on the mandatory fortification of both wheat and maize flour in the early 2000s. However, the available government data show a variable level of compliance amongst the flour industry, including a particularly concerning drop in compliance in the fortification of maize flour with folic acid, casting doubts on the flour-milling and food-processing industries’ actions to provide Mexican people with sufficiently fortified flours, tortillas and breads to help tackle micronutrient deficiencies. The report concludes by making a series of recommendations to all players involved, with a special emphasis on the need for strengthening the enforcement regime.
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