You Won’t Believe How Beneficial Food Fortification Can Be!

Food fortification is the process of adding one or more essential nutrients to the food to make sure that there is no deficiency of any nutrient. Though there is no doubt that there are immense benefits of food fortification, the process is not always harmless. Read on to know what are the benefits of food fortification and how can you make the most of it as a consumer.

BENEFITS OF FOOD FORTIFICATION

• Food fortification can help in stopping many neural tube defects. These are birth defects associated with the spine or brain.
• This process can also help prevent many deficiencies like iron deficiencies in kids and vitamin D deficiencies in women.
• This is an excellent way of ensuring that a country has a healthier population as a large section of the population makes use of foods that have been fortified.
• Most food fortification processes don’t pose a health risk to people as the quantities are quite small and the fortification process is regulated by prescribed standards.
• An overdose of nutrients is not very likely as regulations control how much fortification is to be done and quality checks are regularly done.
• People who are consuming fortified foods don’t need to change their food habits or patterns.
• Most societies and cultures have no objection to the food fortification process.
• One of the biggest benefits of food fortification is that it doesn’t change the taste, the feel or the look of the foods in most cases.
• The process of food fortification is a quick one. You can get it done in short order.
• Even the results of food fortification are visible within a few months of fortified foods as the people with a deficiency get to see improvement in their health.
• Thanks to the latest technological innovations, the food fortification process has become quite cost effective as well.
• According to a consensus, every one rupee spent on fortification leads to 9 rupees in benefits to the economy.
• Food fortification is a boon for kids, pregnant women and older adults as these groups are usually more vulnerable to vitamin deficiencies.
• People who follow special diets like vegans practicing veganism can benefit if they have foods that are fortified with vitamin B-12. 

CAUTION

Though there are many benefits of food fortification, there is a need to ensure that consumers stay away from fortified foods that are heavily processed or packaged. These kinds of foods are loaded with high fat, sugar and sodium content.

Even if your meals are loaded with fortified foods, you still need to ensure that you have a varied and well-rounded diet which includes fresh fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods. Food fortification or enrichment should never replace a healthy and balanced diet!