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Beta‐carotene producers and food manufacturers have collated information about the usage of beta‐carotene as a colourant and in fortified foods and food supplements. These data have been combined with food consumption data from some European countries consuming higher amounts of processed foods, to generate estimates of high‐level intake to compare with official advice. Intake estimates of beta‐carotene from food colour uses for German, French and British adults ranged from 0.4 to 1.9 mg/day. Pack dosage directions and beta‐carotene content were used to estimate intakes from supplements, which could range from less than 1 mg/day to 100 mg/day. However, for the majority of products recommended daily doses were less than 10 mg/day. Theoretical intakes from fortified drinks could exceed 5 mg/day, but this level of intake is unlikely to be maintained in the longer term. The most important sources of intake appeared to be from food supplements and fortified foods. Intakes of isolated beta‐carotene were comparable to intakes of natural beta‐carotene from the diet.

This paper aims to examine the effect of selected calcium salts on the colour, clarity and calcium content of fortified apple juice in extended storage.

Apple juice was fortified with calcium lactate, calcium lactate gluconate, or anhydrous calcium gluconate and was processed along with an unfortified control juice. The bottled product was stored at 3 and 18°C for 30 weeks, and was assessed for calcium ion concentration, colour and haze. Consumer acceptance of the juices was confirmed using sensory evaluation.

Anhydrous calcium gluconate and calcium lactate gluconate are easily dissolved in apple juice and are as acceptable to consumers as the unfortified control juice. All three calcium salts remain in solution in apple juice after 30 weeks of storage.

The paper shows that, unlike a number of commercially marketed, calcium‐fortified beverages, these calcium salts stayed in solution in apple juice during extended storage. The ease of dissolution of anhydrous calcium gluconate and calcium lactate gluconate make them excellent candidates for commercial processing; their incorporation should cause minimal disruption to existing apple juice production practices.

Iron deficiency is an important nutritional problem that affects approximately 20 percent of world's population and especially infants. The aim of this paper is to determine the iron bioavailability by using in vitro method in commercial infant cereals.

The ferrous iron dialyzability relative to total iron and phytic acid contents of six commercial infant cereals commonly consumed in Turkey were analyzed.

Dialyzable ferrous iron was determined in samples 4, 5, and 6 as 2.51 ± 0.38, 4.12 ± 1.52, and 0.50 ± 0.08 percent, respectively (p < 0.05). Phytic acid contents of the samples ranged from 118 to 161 mg/100 g. For all the samples calculated phytate:iron molar ratios were equal to or higher than 1 (ranged from 1.0 to 9.89).

The phytate:iron molar ratio was not found as the major inhibitory factor on iron bioavailability. Other possible factors such as type of iron fortificant and possible interactions of iron with other ingredients in the formula can affect iron bioavailability. Therefore, at the formulation step amounts of all ingredients and their proportions to each other should be considered to reach optimum iron bioavailability.

Inadequacies in several micronutrients in complementary foods, notably iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin B6 and riboflavin have been reported. Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MLP), prepared from dried moringa leaves is nutrient-rich and has been explored for the treatment of micronutrient deficiencies among children in developing countries. This increasing interest in the use of moringa oleifera leaves to improve complementary foods notwithstanding, the unique sensory characteristics of the leaf powder potentially holds implications for the acceptability of local diets that are fortified with it. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the levels of MLP fortification that are most acceptable for feeding infants and young children.

The authors performed a review of the literature, with the aim of investigating the sensory attributes and acceptable levels of fortification of complementary food blends fortified with different levels of MLP.

The minimum amount of MLP to be added to a complementary food blend to observe significant improvements in its nutritional value was estimated to be about 10 per cent. However, at this 10 per cent fortification level also, sensory attributes of the products begin to become less desirable.

For the success of nutrition interventions that involve the use of MLP to improve the nutritional quality of complementary foods, there is a need to consider the acceptability of the sensory attributes of the formulated blends in the target group. Safety of MLP as an ingredient in infant foods must also be investigated.

The authors of this paper make recommendations for the use of MLP to fortify complementary foods to ensure its success as a food fortificant in nutrition interventions. The researchers are not aware of any published study that focuses on this subject.

This is the pilot study of a larger project in which fortification was evaluated in a clinical intervention trial in the Vaal Triangle of South Africa. The main purpose is to determine the suitability of stock cubes and stock powder as possible vehicles for fortification. A questionnaire was developed to determine stock cube and stock powder consumption patterns and handed out to the 802 subjects in the randomly selected sample, after testing for reliability. The results showed that 97 per cent of respondents (n=802) used stock cubes or powder daily in cooking, mainly stews, with the total consumption being 26 per cent chicken, 24 per cent beef, 15 per cent oxtail, 12 per cent mutton, 12 per cent tomato and 11 per cent vegetable. Stock cubes (79 per cent) were more popular than stock powder (21 per cent). From a consumption point of view, compared with other staple foods such as wheat flour, sugar and maize meal, stock cubes and/or stock powder are consumed on a daily basis by 97 per cent respondents and might thus be suitable vehicles for delivering micronutrients to many population groups without major changes in food production or changes in customary diets.

This study aims to update the information on the current status of micronutrient fortification for iron, zinc, folic acid and vitamin A in mandatory fortified food vehicles such as cooking oil, wheat and maize flours in Tanzania.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in five regions to analyze the adequacy of micronutrient fortification in mandatory fortified food vehicles. Samples of fortified edible oil (n = 19), wheat flour (n = 12) and maize flour (n = 5) were sampled conveniently from local markets and supermarkets. Samples were analyzed for vitamins (vitamin A and folic acid) and mineral (iron and zinc) content using high-performance liquid chromatography and microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometer, respectively. Compliance acceptable ranges between the minimum and maximum levels for each nutrient were used as a basis for compliance.

The results showed that 83.3% and 80% of wheat and maize flour samples, respectively, complied with iron fortification standards (p = 0.05). Only 25% of wheat flour samples and 40% of maize flour samples were within the acceptable ranges for zinc fortification (p = 0.05). Nearly 17% and 20% of wheat and maize flour samples, respectively, were within the acceptable ranges for folic acid fortification (p = 0.05). Moreover, about 10.5% of the analyzed cooking oils were adequately fortified with vitamin A (p = 0.05). Except for iron in wheat and maize flours, the levels of other micronutrients in mandatorily fortified foods were out of acceptable ranges.

Mandatory fortification is still far from the established standards, and this calls for a review of the current fortification strategies regarding standards, training, monitoring and enforcement in Tanzania.

The importance of nutraceuticals and functional foods has been a topic of interest in nutrition research for many years. This review aims to summarize the findings on the nutritive value and health benefits of chia, as well as its use as a food fortificant.

Published literature on the nutritive value and therapeutic properties of chia has been reviewed.

Chia, an ancient grain, belongs to the mint family (Lamiaceae) and was cultivated in Mexico and Guatemala by the Mayas and Aztecs of a pre-Columbian era. In addition to being gluten-free, chia seeds are concentrated source of omega-3 fatty acids (mainly α-linolenic acid), fiber (insoluble) and polyphenolic compounds (myricetin, quercetin, kaempferol, chlorogenic and caffeic acids), which were found to be comparatively higher than many other grains, cereals and oily seeds. Chia supplementation has potential to lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, obesity, hypertension, cancer, diabetes, pruritus and celiac disease. Because of its nutraceutical and physiochemical properties, chia has been widely used as a whole seed, flour, seed mucilage, gel and oil for developing various enriched food products, such as bread, pasta, cakes, cookies, chips, cheese, yoghurt, meat, fish and poultry.

With advancement in nutrition research, chia would have a great future perspective as feed, food and medicine. However, further research is needed to validate the potential therapeutic effect of chia supplementation on human health.

The paper aims to explore consumer preferences for novel and other quality attributes in processed foods. It focuses on preferences for product origin, certification on food quality and standards and tradeoffs between novelty (fortification and highly processed) and other quality attributes.

In total, 317 consumers were randomly selected at a high-end supermarket and a traditional local market in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Stated and revealed preference approaches were used to investigate their preferences for different attributes in processed foods. A hypothetical choice experiment was used to assess consumer preference for six baby food attributes and the tradeoffs between the attributes, while the revealed preference method included questions on consumer's actual processed food purchasing and consumption habits. In addition, consumers were asked a series of hierarchical questions assessing the motivation underpinning their choices for different products attributes.

When making choices for processed food attributes, consumers are reluctant to choose novel technologies and have a strong preference for natural, nutritious, tasty and quality processed food attributes. However, they are willing to forego their preference for naturalness and to overcome their reluctance to trying novel technologies when the novelty is embedded with such quality benefits as nutrition, but not so when the embedded benefit is convenience. They are also willing to trade off their preference for nutrition for a sensory taste. This suggests that micronutrient deficiencies can be reduced among women and children under five by employing the appropriate strategies in processed food formulation. Further, the preference for product origin highlights the opportunity for national brands to fill the gap created by the increasing demand for processed foods in Tanzania.

The study claims a developing country perspective but is only representing consumers in one city in a developing country. However, this study speculates that consumers with representative characteristics in such context are likely to behave the same. Furthermore, although this study controlled for a hypothetical bias, having a hypothetical choice experiment with non-shoppers (non-purchasers) could have triggered the hypothetical bias, making participants concentrate more on non-price than price attributes.

The paper offers a developing country perspective on consumers' preferences for novelty in processed foods and tradeoffs with other quality attributes.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the quality of selected small‐scale produced yoghurt brands on the market in Kampala city, Uganda.

Four samples of each of four brands of small‐scale produced yoghurt were purchased from different shops in Kampala on four different occasions within a period of one month. Physico‐chemical, microbiological and rheological analyses were carried out on each of the samples. An untrained sensory panel was also used to assess their acceptability and purchase index. A premium brand (Fresh dairy yoghurt) was used as a control.

Lactobacilli counts ranged from 7.12‐9.25 log cfu ml⁻¹ while lactococci ranged from 6.29‐6.8 log cfu ml⁻¹ in the small‐scale yoghurt brands. All the small‐scale yoghurt brands were contaminated with fungi and coliforms at levels beyond the acceptable minimum, indicating insufficient process hygiene and also raising concerns of consumer safety. The protein, ash, carbohydrate and titratable acidity were not significantly different from the control. Fat, total solids, pH, viscosity and syneresis varied significantly between brands. The small‐scale produced brands were less viscous and exhibited more syneresis. All the small‐scale yoghurt brands were less acceptable compared with the control and two of them were disliked. The variation in their purchase index was related to their acceptability.

Regulatory and standards agencies should strengthen the surveillance of such products and the premises where they are produced. They should also work with other stakeholders in training small‐scale processors to ensure that their products meet both quality and safety requirements.

The paper assesses the quality of one of the many small‐scale produced products on the market in Kampala city.

The purpose of this paper is to review the nutritional and phytochemical value of Moringa oleifera L., along with health benefits. Moringa oleifera, a highly valued plant grown throughout the world and all parts of tree used in different food formulations, possess industrial and therapeutic uses. This plant is gaining popularity because of its nutrient-rich root, leaves, flowers and fruits, having immense traditional medicinal uses and proved pharmacological properties.

Major well-known bibliometric information sources such as Web of Science, Scopus, Mendeley and Google Scholar were searched with keywords such as nutrition value of Moringa oleifera, bioactive compounds, health benefits, processing and safety were chosen to obtain a database of 1,386 papers. A final database of 70 scientific sources was made after sorting and classifying them according to different criteria based on topic relevance, country of origin and year of publication.

The literature reflects that Moringa contains all necessary macro, micro-nutrients and bioactive compounds (terpenoids, polyphenols, flavonoids, glucosinolates, alkaloids, glycosides and carotenoids). Scientific studies illustrate that M. oleifera and its bioactive constituents could play a vital role in the prevention of several chronic and degenerative diseases associated with oxidation stress. The recent upsurge in consumer interest for health foods has opened up new vistas for plant products containing bioactive compounds in different food formulations.

This paper highlights phytochemicals, pharmacological properties, bio-accessibility, food and industrial applications of Moringa. Moringa pods are traditionally preferred for enlarged liver and spleen, intestinal worms, weakness, neurological disorders and skin disease. A seed is natural and an inexpensive coagulant used to remove organic particles from water.