Resumen

PACHON, Helena. Advances in the fortification of wheat flour. An Venez Nutr [online]. 2014, vol.27, n.1, pp.31-39. ISSN 0798-0752.

Food has been industrially fortified (or enriched) with vitamins and minerals for 90 years. Cereal grains, specifically wheat flour, maize flour and rice, are good vehicles for fortification because they are available in large amounts in most countries around the world. The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence for the public-health impact of fortification, describe challenges to worldwide fortification, and list tools that are available to aid in the design, monitoring and evaluation of food-fortification programs. There is strong and consistent evidence that folic-acid fortification of cereal grains improves serum folate and reduces neural tube defects, and that iron-fortification increases serum ferritin levels. The results for hemoglobin are equivocal: some studies report increases, others decreases, and others no change in hemoglobin after cereal-grain fortification commenced with several nutrients. The two main challenges to worldwide fortification are that many countries that could benefit from cereal-grain fortification do not undertake this public-health intervention, and that few countries consistently report monitoring or evaluation data that suggests they are keeping track of the implementation of fortification. Finally, to overcome these challenges, many tools are available or under development to help with the design, monitoring and evaluation of food-fortification programs.

Palabras clave : Fortification; enrichment; cereal grains; wheat; impact; folate; ferritin; hemoglobin; anemia; monitoring; evaluation.

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