FORTIFICATION FOOD FOR A HEALTHIER, MORE RESILIENT FUTURE -:

The world is currently facing an unprecedented health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens the lives of millions of people around the world, with disruptions and emergency conditions threatening millions more. While the immediate threat of COVID-19 is present, the looming nutrition crisis has the potential to cause even more devastation.
 
Most countries have taken extraordinary measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, including nationwide lock downs and diverting resources towards prevention and treatment. While these steps are necessary to slow the spread of the corona virus, they have caused supply chain disruptions and are leading to reduced purchasing power in low- and middle-income countries where nutritious food and basic health services will become even more difficult to access.
 

A country’s health system is built on the immune systems of its people. Good nutrition is the foundation of a strong immune system and, as the pandemic has starkly revealed the underlying vulnerabilities and inequities of our world, the urgent need for improved nutrition has become apparent.
 
Fortifying staple foods with critical micro nutrients is an important part of the solution. Staple food fortification is ranked by the Copenhagen Consensus 2012 as one of the highest-return investments in global development. Fortification programs implemented population-wide have been associated with a 24% reduction in anemia in women and a 46% reduced risk of neural tube defects. In the context of the pandemic, when the vast majority of countries around the world have introduced strict physical distancing measures, food fortification can reach large swaths of the population without the need for direct contact.
 
While many food system supply chains have seen disruptions, the production of staple foods has thus far continued mostly unimpeded. Fortifying these foods can ensure that micro-nutrient-rich foods are widely available across populations. At this time, when people across the world are stretching their budgets and may not be able to afford a healthy and nutritious diet, fortification is one of the most critical nutrition interventions.
 
Governments must integrate nutrition into their COVID-19 response plans and food fortification should play an integral role. Fortified staple foods should be available through social protection programs, and across all markets. This means working with and incentivizing the industry to produce and distribute adequately fortified food and supporting consumers to make healthy choices and understand the benefits of consuming fortified food. Donors can provide support by committing new, or additional, resources to the COVID-19 response.

 To guarantee continuity, supply chains must remain uninterrupted. Food staples, premix used to fortify, and other necessary commodities should be considered essential products, exempt from duties and taxes, and free to move across borders and ports. Governments should work to strengthen their supply chains to guard against a second wave of the virus, or if infection rates worsen elsewhere and cause disruptions in delivery.


As governments around the world face this immediate and exceptional crisis, nutrition must play an integral role as we work to build back better. Food fortification presents a major opportunity to reach entire populations with much-needed micro nutrients that improve health and strengthen immune systems. Investing in nutrition is a vital first step in securing a future that is healthier, safer, and more resilient for all.

WHAT IS FOOD FORTIFICATION ?



Food fortification is the process of adding nutrients into foodstuff that do not already contain them. For example, milk is often fortified with additional vitamin D, to boost its nutritional value. The aim of fortification is to help people remedy their nutritional defeciencies.