Poor iron status affects 50% of Indian women and compromises work productivity, cognitive performance, and reproduction. Among the many strategies to reduce iron deficiency is the commercial fortification of iodized table salt with iron to produce a double-fortified salt (DFS). The objective of this study was to test the efficacy of DFS in reducing iron deficiency in rural women of reproductive age from northern West Bengal, India. The participants were 212 women between 18 and 55 y of age who worked as full-time tea pickers on a large tea estate. Participants in the randomized, controlled, double-blind study were assigned to use either DFS or a control iodized salt for 7.5 to 9 mo. The DFS was fortified with 3.3-mg ferrous fumarate (1.1-mg elemental iron) per kg of iodized salt, whereas the control salt contained only iodine (47 mg/kg potassium iodate), and both salt varieties were distributed gratis to the families of participants at 0.5 kg/mo for each 2 household members. At baseline, 53% of participants were anemic (hemoglobin <120 g/L), 25% were iron deficient (serum ferritin <12 μg/L), and 23% were iron-deficient anemic. Also, 22% had a transferrin receptor concentration >8.6 mg/L and 22% had negative (<0.0 mg/kg) body iron stores. After 9 mo the participants receiving DFS showed significant improvements compared with controls in hemoglobin (+2.4 g/L), ferritin (+0.13 log10 μg/L), soluble transferrin receptor (−0.59 mg/L), and body iron (+1.43 mg/kg), with change in status analyzed by general linear models controlling for baseline values. This study demonstrated that DFS is an efficacious approach to improving iron status and should be further evaluated for effectiveness in the general population. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01032005.

Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia have been shown to have negative effects on aspects of perception, attention, and memory. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the extent to which increases in dietary iron consumption are related to improvements in behavioral measures of perceptual, attentional, and mnemonic function. Women were selected from a randomized, double-blind, controlled food-fortification trial involving ad libitum consumption of either a double-fortified salt (DFS) containing 47 mg potassium iodate/kg and 3.3 mg microencapsulated ferrous fumarate/g (1.1 mg elemental Fe/g) or a control iodized salt. Participants' blood iron status (primary outcomes) and cognitive functioning (secondary outcomes) were assessed at baseline and after 10 mo at endline. The study was performed on a tea plantation in the Darjeeling district of India. Participants ( = 126; 66% iron deficient and 49% anemic at baseline) were otherwise healthy women of reproductive age, 18-55 y. Significant improvements were documented for iron status and for perceptual, attentional, and mnemonic function in the DFS group (percentage of variance accounted for: 16.5%) compared with the control group. In addition, the amount of change in perceptual and cognitive performance was significantly ( < 0.05) related to the amount of change in blood iron markers (mean percentage of variance accounted for: 16.0%) and baseline concentrations of blood iron markers (mean percentage of variance accounted for: 25.0%). Overall, there was evidence that the strongest effects of change in iron status were obtained for perceptual and low-level attentional function. DFS produced measurable and significant improvements in the perceptual, attentional, and mnemonic performance of Indian female tea pickers of reproductive age. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01032005.

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A microencapsulation-based technology platform has been developed for salt double fortification with iron and iodine, aiming to address two globally prevalent micronutrient deficiencies simultaneously. Specifically, ferrous fumarate was microencapsulated into a form of salt grain-sized premix, and then added into iodised salt. The earlier process involved fluidised-bed agglomeration followed by lipid coating. To improve physico-chemical properties of the iron premix, the use of cold-forming extrusion for agglomerating and microencapsulating ferrous fumarate was investigated and optimized in this study, leading to optimal formulations and operation parameters. Grain flours were suitable for forming an extrudable dough incorporating high percentages of ferrous fumarate. All extruded iron particles, regardless of binders used, were rich in iron and had excellent iron in vitro digestibility. The extruded iron particles formed the basis of the final, microencapsulated iron premixes with desired particle size (300-700 µm), and other physical, chemical, nutritional, and organoleptic properties suitable for salt fortification.

Cereal Chem. 76(5):743-747The effect of genetic variation in the glutenin and gliadin protein alleles of Alpha 16, a Canada Prairie Spring (CPS) wheat line, on the dough mixing, bread, and noodle quality properties were evaluated. The presence of a gliadin component (BGGL) and the low molecular weight glutenin subunit (LMW-GS) 45 found in the selection Biggar BSR were associated with significant increases in dough strength characteristics. The results of the study showed that gliadins, LMW-GS, and high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) can influence bread-and noodle-making properties of wheat flour. Genotype-by-environment interactions were not significant for most of the quality parameters studied, indicating that the differences observed in quality characteristics were mainly due to the effect of genotype.

Objective: To assess changes in the Fe and vitamin A status of the population of Nangweshi refugee camp associated with the introduction of maize meal fortification. Design: Pre-and post-intervention study using a longitudinal cohort. Setting: Nangweshi refugee camp, Zambia. Subjects: Two hundred and twelve adolescents (10-19 years), 157 children (6-59 months) and 118 women (20-49 years) were selected at random by household survey in July 2003 and followed up after 12 months. Results: Maize grain was milled and fortified in two custom-designed mills installed at a central location in the camp and a daily ration of 400 g per person was distributed twice monthly to households as part of the routine food aid ration. During the intervention period mean Hb increased in children (0?87 g/dl; P , 0?001) and adolescents (0?24 g/dl; P 5 0?043) but did not increase in women. Anaemia decreased in children by 23?4 % (P , 0?001) but there was no significant change in adolescents or women. Serum transferrin receptor (log 10 -transformed) decreased by 20?082 mg/ml (P 5 0?036) indicating an improvement in the Fe status of adolescents but there was no significant decrease in the prevalence of deficiency (28?5 %; P 5 0?079). In adolescents, serum retinol increased by 0?16 mmol/l (P , 0?001) and vitamin A deficiency decreased by 26?1 % (P , 0?001).

The feasibility of using fluidized bed technology for the production of an iron premix of ferrous fumarate encapsulated with soy stearine for iron fortification of table salt has been successfully demonstrated. Ferrous fumarate was selected as source of iron, in preference to ferrous sulphate heptahydrate, ferric sodium EDTA and reduced elemental iron, for its bioavailability, bland taste, stability and high iron content. Potassium iodate was used as iodine source. Fluid-bed processors of 7, 200 and 500 kg capacity were used to granulate ferrous fumarate with a solution containing, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, sodium hexametaphosphate and titanium dioxide for binding, stabilization and colour masking, respectively. Encapsulation of granulated ferrous fumarate was achieved by top-spraying hot soy stearine containing more titanium dioxide at 98ºC on the fluidized bed. The premix contained 46.4 wt. % of ferrous fumarate. Double Fortified Salt (DFS), made by dry blending 1 part of iron premix and 150 parts of already iodized salt, contained 1000 ppm of iron and 50 ppm of iodine. Less than 10% of the iron in the premix, with a bulk density of 0.78 g/cc, dissolved in HCl at pH of 4.0 indicating good coating integrity. Particle size distribution of iron premix was consistently centred on 300 µm with more than 90% of the particles in the size range of 150 to 710 µm, similar to that of free flowing refined salt.

An extrusion-based encapsulation process has been developed for making salt grain-sized iron premix for salt fortification. The first step of extrusion agglomeration process has been studied and reported previously. The focus of this study is on the optimisation of the colour-masking and polymer coating steps. Several colour-masking techniques and polymer encapsulants were investigated at various encapsulation levels. Salt samples prepared by blending the resulting iron premixes with iodised salt retained more than 90% of the original iodine and more than 93% of the ferrous iron after 3 months storage at 35°C and 60% relative humidity (RH). Hydrophilic coatings such as hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) offered more protection at the 10% encapsulation level compared to other coating materials studied. All iron premix formulations exhibited high particle density, good bioavailability and acceptable organoleptic properties. The process using the most effective formulations and optimised operation parameters is ready for pilot scale testing and field studies.