News Highlights
Union Food and Public Distribution Secretary said that the Centre had started the second phase of distribution of fortified rice from April 1.
Focus Points
- Governments Aim:
- To distribute fortified rice in a phased manner through all central government schemes by 2024
- Phase I
- Phase-II
- Target: Through ICDS Centres and the PM-POSHAN, the government aims to cover 291 aspirational and high burden districts with the distribution of 175 lakh tonne of fortified rice
- Phase III
- By March 2024 it will cover remaining districts of the country
Food Fortification
- The practice of adding micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to commonly consumed foods during processing to increase their nutritional value.
- Food manufacturers, or by governments carried out this mechanism as a public health policy which aims to reduce the number of people with dietary deficiencies within a population.
- Food Fortification is a scientifically proven, cost-effective, scalable and sustainable global intervention that addresses the issue of micronutrient deficiencies.
Need for Fortified Rice
- National Family Health Survey
- 78.7% children and 75% in the district are anaemic and suffer from malnutrition
- Global Hunger Index (GHI)
- India ranks 94 out of 107 countries and is in the ‘serious hunger’ category
- Anaemic Impact on Economy
- The country loses about 1 per cent of GDP (Rs 2.03 lakh crore) due to iron deficiency anaemia
- Rice fortification is an “evidence-based” and a “cost-effective complementary strategy” to tackle anaemia
- “Rs one spent on nutritional interventions in India could generate Rs 34.1-Rs 38.6 in public economic returns
- Milling Removes micronutrients
- Milling of rice removes the fat and micronutrient-rich bran layers to produce the commonly consumed starch white rice.
- Polishing further removes 75-90 per cent of Vitamin B-1, Vitamin B-6, Vitamin-E and Niacin.
- Fortification of rice provides an opportunity to add the micronutrients lost during milling and polishing.
Standard for Rice Fortification per kg for Nutrients or as specified by FSSAI
Advantages of Fortification
- Does Not Require Behaviour Change
- Without changing the consumers’ dietary habits, fortification can make frequently consumed foods or daily staples more nutritious.
- Provides Nutrition Without Any Change In Characteristics Of Food
- No change in taste, aroma texture or appearance of food after fortification
- Maintain Body Stores Of Nutrients
- The World Health Organization released ‘Guidelines on food fortification with micronutrients,‘
- Guidelines revealed consuming fortified rice on a regular and frequent basis will help to maintain body nutrient stores more efficiently.
- The World Health Organization released ‘Guidelines on food fortification with micronutrients,‘
- Cost-Effective Intervention
- The overall costs of fortification are extremely low
- Contain Natural Or Near Natural Levels Of Micronutrients
- According to the World Health Organisation
- Fortification generally aims to provide micronutrients in amounts that approximate those provided by a healthy, well-balanced diet.
- According to the World Health Organisation
Disadvantages of Food Fortification
- Not A Substitute Of Good Nutrition
- Only provide selected micronutrients
- Not substitute Food with adequate amounts of energy, protein, essential fats and other food constituents required for optimal health.
- Might Not Benefit Infants And Children
- First six months of the life, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended
- After the six months, complementary feeding is initiated, wherein infants and children consume relatively small amounts of food.
- Not A Long Term Solution
- Food fortification is a short and medium term measure.
- For long term sustainability, dietary diversity is the key to address micronutrient malnutrition.
- Can Have Detrimental Effects
- Excess dosages of vitamins and minerals in some cases can have harmful effects.
Way Forward
There are some rare risks involved in the Fortification, but benefits are far more. India, as a developing country, must fight malnutrition in order to achieve far more. Food fortification helps to mitigate this, but it does not completely combat malnutrition.So The government have to take more steps to include more supplements in diets such as fats and proteins through Government Schemes
Pic Coutesy: freepik
Content Source: The Hindu