QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Allen, L. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Allen, L. H. Pubmed/NCBI databases Compound via MeSH Substance via MeSH Hazardous Substances DB IRON VITAMIN A

---

Symposium: Food Fortification in Developing Countries

New Approaches for Designing and Evaluating Food Fortification Programs¹

U.S. Department of Agriculture, ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616

² To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: lhallen{at}ucdavis.edu.

Historically, food fortification programs were often undertaken with little attention to issues such as micronutrient bioavailability, optimal levels of addition, or efficacy or to monitoring impact on nutritional status, health, and human function. Several developments in recent years have enabled substantial progress to be made in the design and evaluation of fortification programs. The methodology for estimating the prevalence of inadequate nutrient intakes in a population and tolerable upper intake levels has been established and can be used as the basis for estimating desirable amounts of nutrient addition. More attention is being paid to assessing the bioavailability of nutrients (especially minerals) using stable and radioactive isotopes, and bioavailability of iron compounds can be estimated from changes in total body iron calculated from the ratio of transferrin receptors to serum ferritin. Procedures for quality control of the fortification process have been established. New approaches to monitoring the impact of fortification over time include assessment of liver retinol stores using retinol isotope dilution. In summary, the design and evaluation of food fortification programs now requires a series of formative research procedures on the part of nutritionists, which were not often expected or conducted in the past.

KEY WORDS: • fortification • design • micronutrient • evaluation

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Imhoff-Kunsch, R. Flores, O. Dary, and R. Martorell Wheat Flour Fortification Is Unlikely to Benefit the Neediest in Guatemala J. Nutr., April 1, 2007; 137(4): 1017 - 1022. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]