PM in his I-day speech has announced the fortification of rice distributed under various government schemes, including the Public Distribution System (PDS) and mid-day meals in schools, by 2024.

What is Fortification?

• FSSAI defines fortification as “deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality of food and to provide public health benefit with minimal risk to health”.

What is Fortified Rice?

• Rice can be fortified by adding a micronutrient powder to the rice that adheres to the grains or spraying of the surface of ordinary rice grains with a vitamin and mineral mix to form a protective coating.
• Rice can also be extruded and shaped into partially precooked grain-like structures resembling rice grains, which can then be blended with natural polished rice.
• Rice kernels can be fortified with several micronutrients, such as iron, folic acid and other B-complex vitamins, vitamin A and zinc.
• These fortified kernels are then mixed with normal rice in a 1:100 ratio, and distributed for consumption.

What is the plan announced by the PM?

• Malnutrition and lack of essential nutrients in poor women and poor children poses major obstacles in their development.
• In view of this, it has been decided that the government will fortify the rice given to the poor under its various schemes.
• Be it the rice available at ration shops or the rice provided to children in their mid-day meals, the rice available through every scheme will be fortified by the year 2024.

Why such a move?

• The announcement is significant as the country has high levels of malnutrition among women and children.
• According to the Food Ministry, every second woman in the country is anemic and every third child is stunted.
• India ranks 94 out of 107 countries and is in the ‘serious hunger’ category on the Global Hunger Index (GHI).
• Fortification of rice is a cost-effective and complementary strategy to increase vitamin and mineral content in diets.
• According to the Food Ministry, seven countries have mandated rice fortification – the USA, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, and Solomon Islands.

Advantages offered

• Health: Fortified staple foods will contain natural or near-natural levels of micro-nutrients, which may not necessarily be the case with supplements.
• Taste: It provides nutrition without any change in the characteristics of food or the course of our meals.
• Nutrition: If consumed on a regular and frequent basis, fortified foods will maintain body stores of nutrients more efficiently and more effectively than will intermittently supplement.
• Economy: The overall costs of fortification are extremely low; the price increase is approximately 1 to 2 percent of the total food value.
• Society: It upholds everyone’s right to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger

Issues with fortified food

• Against nature: Fortification and enrichment upset nature’s packaging. Our body does not absorb individual nutrients added to processed foods as efficiently compared to nutrients naturally occurring.
• Bioavailability: Supplements added to foods are less bioavailable. Bioavailability refers to the proportion of a nutrient your body is able to absorb and use.
• Immunity issues: They lack immune-boosting substances.
• Over-nutrition: Fortified foods and supplements can pose specific risks for people who are taking prescription medications, including decreased absorption of other micro-nutrients, treatment failure, and increased mortality risk.