Micronutrient Fortification of Food in Southeast Asia: Recommendations from an Expert Workshop

Abstract

Micronutrient deficiencies remain a significant public health issue in Southeast Asia, particularly in vulnerable populations, such as women of reproductive age and young children. An important nutrition-specific intervention to address micronutrient malnutrition is fortification of staple foods and condiments. In October 2013, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Southeast Asia Region held a workshop on micronutrient fortification of food in Bangkok, Thailand. The objective was to engage multiple stakeholders in a discussion on food fortification and its importance as a public health intervention in Southeast Asia, and to identify and address key challenges/gaps in and potential opportunities for fortification of foods in ASEAN countries. Key challenges that were identified include: “scaling up” and mobilizing sustainable support for fortification programs in the form of multi-stakeholder partnerships, effecting policy change to support mandatory fortification, long-term monitoring of the programs’ compliance and efficacy in light of limited resources, and increasing awareness and uptake of fortified products through social marketing campaigns. Future actions recommended include the development of terms of engagement and governance for multi-stakeholder partnerships, moving towards a sustainable business model and more extensive monitoring, both for effectiveness and efficacy and for enforcement of fortification legislation.

Micronutrient deficiencies in early childhood can lower a country's GDP: The Myanmar example

“…Myanmar now has a National Micronutrient Surveillance Program [21]. collaborate with local governments to improve nutrition.…”

“…According to the Copenhagen consensus, food fortification is one of the most cost effective strategies to reach populations at large and it is listed among the top three international development opportunities [22,21]. Salt iodisation is an example of mass or universal food fortification [11].…”

“…Now, 92% of Myanmar households consume iodized salt [3]. Mandatory fortification of salt with iodine is done in Myanmar and it is part of the government controlled national salt iodisation program [21].…”

“…Biofortifiction of staple foods is considered to be a long term sustainable strategy to address the nutrient gap experienced by low socioeconomic groups and it is the key to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition in Southeast Asia [21]. Biofortification is a uniquely nutritionsensitive agriculture intervention because it focuses on breeding of staple crops that are rich in essential micronutrients [24].…”

The Analysis of Domestic and International Policy of Food Fortification With Trace Elements and Salt Iodization

“…В 2006 г. состав обогащающего премикса был дополнен цинком и витаминами А, В 1, В2, В3, В6, В12, в 2010 г. − витамином D (Gayer, Smith, 2015).…”