ON FOOD fORTI - DOH Central Library - Department of Health

14 A Report on Food Fortification
STATE OF THE ART IN FOOD FORTIFICATION
Dr. CHUAN KEAN KOH
Area Technical Manager
Human Nutrition and Health
Roche, Hong Kong
My talk is on food fortification and
the public health measures but Lwould
also addresssomeareas on the technology
side. As I go along, there will be some
questions on some aspect of technology
that we can address.
My presentation will cover food
fortification from a historical perspective,
andan overviewon the fortification status;
and micronutrientdeficiencies todayfrpm
the W,HO perspective. We would then
look at the health impact of vitamin
intervention. Since time is limited, I will
talk mainly on food fortification, taking
a look at its cost-benefits.
Now the historical perspective. At
the turn of the century, developed
countries realized that they had some
micronutrientdeficiencies so that,starting
in 1923, in Switzerland, table salt was
iodized. This was followed in the United
Kingdom,in the UnitedStates (fortification
of milk with vitamin B) and in 1930 in
Denmarkwhenmargarinewas introduced
as a substitute for butter and was
Dr, C/;uan Kean Koh. "As societies become more
developed. the food industries playa more prominent
role in providing nutritious foods to the population".
standardized with vitamin Band
eventually with vitamin.A as well. So
in the early years, fortification started in
many of these countries where
micronutrient deficiencies were not
expected. Just before the second world
war, flour and bread, as well as com meal
were fortified with a series of B-vitamins
in the US.In 1974, startingin Latin America
sugar was fortified with vitamin A. This