Food fortification with vitamin A
Food fortification involves adding nutrients to foods in order to maintain or improve the quality of the diet of a targeted group or population.
WHO has a goal of worldwide elimination of vitamin A deficiency and its tragic consequences, including blindness, disease and premature death.
The combination of breastfeeding and vitamin A food fortification holds the promise of achieving combating vitamin deficiency.
The aims is to add vitamin A to a regularly dietary constituent of the targeted population at a specified level that will correct an existing dietary deficiency without posing significant risks of overdosing those who habitually consume the largest quantity of the fortified product.
Food fortification is a highly effectively strategy to correct underlying low intake of vitamin A and is widely used in developing countries to prevent deficiencies of multiple nutrients.
Vitamin A fortification of staple foods, such as margarine and sugar has made significant stride since eradicating blindness and promoting growth in children in developing countries.
Although fortification can take several years to initiate and longer still to penetrate poor markets and reach sufficient proportions of those at risk, some priority countries have made significant progress.
