Fortification of milk

Although milk is one of the most nutritious foods and it contributes to total daily energy intake as well as other macro and micronutrients, it is not a good source of several micronutrients like copper, iron and vitamins C, D, K and some B-complex vitamins.

Milk also lacks some of the nutraceuticals such as omega-3 fatty acids such as α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and dietary fiber.

Fortification of milk with micronutrients play a major role in relieving nutritional deficiency problems in humans. It can improve the palatability and sensory of the products. The consumer benefits from healthy products that provide alternatives sources of micronutrients to meet their nutrient requirements.

The dairy industry benefits from the development of fortified products that are tasty and appealing and can be advertised as having high mineral contents.

Fortification can be defined as the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e., vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) in a food, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health.

Milk is a preferred food for fortification because it is readily available, widely accepted, and frequently fed to young children. It is economical when compared with, for example, supplements, and is a commonly used food in the home.

The micronutrients which are commonly used in the fortification of the food products  such as milk and its products are:
• Vitamins and co-vitamins
• Essential minerals
• Essential fatty acids
• Essential amino acids
• Phytonutrients
• Enzymes

Milk products have been fortified with vitamins since the 1930’s when an industry wide program for vitamin D fortification was initiated in an effort to prevent infantile rickets, a bone disease of children related to vitamin D deficiency. This practice, which was recommended by the American Medical Association’s Council on Foods and Nutrition, was credited as instrumental in the near eradication of this disease in the US and elsewhere during this period.
Fortification of milk

Enrichment of Foods

Enrichment, a term often used interchangeably with fortification, is the addition of nutrients to achieve concentration specified in standards of identity.

In foods, enrichment refers to the addition of vitamins, minerals and/or protein to raise the nutritive value.

Because of the vital role vitamins and minerals play in the body’s processes, many foods are enriched or fortified with additional vitamins and minerals. Many foods have a diminished nutritive content as a result of loss in refining or processing and can benefit from the enrichment.

Also, some foods provide effective vehicles for distribution of a nutrient. Enrichment of cereal grain products with iron, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin has been a remarkably effective and efficient means of enhancing the nutrient quality of the food supply and is a classic example of an effective well-designed public health approach to providing needed nutrients.

Cereal grains were selected for enrichment because they are eaten frequently by virtually all populations groups.

The decision to fortify with a particular nutrient is a complex one. It starts with the realization that a significant number of people are not obtaining desirable levels of a specific nutrient and the determination that the food to be fortified makes an appreciable contribution to the diet.

It must be further ascertained that the fortification will:
*not result in an essential nutrient imbalance
*the nutrient is stable under storage
*capable of being absorbed from the food
*that toxicity from excessive intakes will generally not occur.
Enrichment of Foods