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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.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is one of the most major micronutrient deficiencies worldwide. Food fortification is one strategy for reducing IDA in the population despite concern regarding the gut pathogenic bacteria overgrowth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of iron encapsulation in banana peel matrix on iron status and gut microbiota composition in iron deficiency anemia.

Anemia was induced in 35 male Sprague Dawley rats of age two weeks by the administration of iron-free diet for two weeks. Rats then randomly divided into control, iron-fortified tempeh (temFe) dose 10 and 20 ppm, iron matrix-fortified tempeh dose 10 and 20 ppm and iron matrix fortified tempeh dose 10 and 20 ppm with probiotic mixture. Blood was drawn at Weeks 2 and 6 for hemoglobin and serum iron analysis. Rats were sacrificed at the end of Week 6, and cecal contents were collected for Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteria and Enterobactericeae analysis.

Hemoglobin and serum iron were significantly increased (p < 0.05) in all iron-fortified group with the highest value found in iron matrix dose 20 ppm (10.71 ± 0.15 g/dl and 335.83 ± 2.17 µg/dl, respectively). The cecal Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria did not differ significantly between groups. Cecal Enterobactericeae was significantly different (p < 0.05) among groups with the lowest level in the temFe-20 (2.65 ± 0.78 log CFU) group.

The use of commercial inoculum instead of pure Rhizopus oligosporus mold for developing the fortified tempeh may impact the effect of product on cecal gut microbiota composition, as different molds and lactic acid bacteria can grow in tempeh when using commercial inoculum.

In Indonesia, iron fortification is conducted primarily in noodles and flour that limits the impact of iron fortification for reducing IDA in population. Iron fortification in food that was daily consumed by people, that is, tempeh, is potential strategy in reducing IDA in population.

Tempeh fortification using encapsulated iron improved iron status and gut microbiota composition in iron deficiency anemia.

The article discusses mineral bioavailability and the process of absorption in humans. It explains the necessity for obtaining accurate data from human studies in order to make dietary intake recommendations for specific population groups. The importance of iron, selenium and copper is discussed, together with methods for determining absorption. In particular, the use of stable and radioisotope methodologies is discussed.

Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is a common problem in pregnancy and may influence the health of both mother and child. The purpose of this paper is to discuss current prevention and treatment strategies for pregnancy IDA and describe alternative methods, such as food‐based approaches that may be another way forward.

A literature review was conducted to locate and summarise up‐to‐date published studies within the field.

There is good evidence that iron supplements may be used to prevent and treat IDA in pregnancy. However, there is much debate about “the optimal” dose to recommend. High doses may contribute to oxidative stress and cause gastrointestinal symptoms while there still remain problems with compliance, even for lower dose iron supplements. Encouraging the daily consumption of functional foods containing suitable levels of iron may therefore be an alternative way to improve pregnancy iron status.

There is a wealth of important studying the health implications of iron supplements in pregnancy. More work is needed to establish whether functional foods containing iron could be an alternative way to help improve iron status.

Most papers and research focus on supplement use as a preventative measure and treatment for IDA; few discuss other approaches.

Stunting and being underweight in children are major nutritional problems especially in developing countries. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of egg supplementation on a vitamin and mineral fortification program for growth, cognitive development and hemoglobin in underweight and stunted children.

This was an experimental study using a crossover design conducted in Yogyakarta province, Indonesia. A total of 39 subjects were randomly selected from two community health centers and provided with two types of intervention: vitamin and mineral fortification sprinkle (Taburia) and Taburia with egg supplementation (Taburia PLUS). Each intervention was conducted for three months with one-month of washout period in between interventions.

There were no changes in weight-for-age Z-score in Taburia and Taburia PLUS (all p > 0.05). The height-for-age Z-score was increased in Taburia PLUS (p = 0.022) but not in Taburia (p > 0.05). Hemoglobin level was significantly increased in Taburia (p = 0.039) but not in Taburia PLUS (p > 0.05). There were no significant changes in visual motoric score in Taburia, but there were slight increases in Taburia PLUS (all p > 0.05).

The authors concluded that egg supplementation combined with multivitamins and minerals fortification program, Taburia PLUS, is beneficial to improve linear growth but not hemoglobin in stunted and underweight children.

Notes that the main criteria for selecting nutrients to be added to foods are that they are shown to be safe, effective and beneficial, or that for certain at‐risk population groups there is a demonstrable need. Also that addition of nutrients requires careful attention to food regulations, labelling, nutritional rationale, cost, acceptability of the product to consumers and assessment of technical and analytical limitations for compliance with label declarations. Points out that there are several examples where the nutritional enrichment of foods (restoration and fortification) has helped prevent or reduce the level of nutritional inadequacies within a population. Concludes that foods with added nutrients provide an ideal vehicle for improving the nutritional status of populations, particularly in the light of changing lifestyles and dietary patterns.

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.

Iron deficiency is a common condition even in countries with a high economic standard. The presence of iron deficiency implies a lack of balance between the iron which can be absorbed from the diet and the daily iron requirement. This is particularly likely to occur at those ages where the physiological needs are greatest, i.e. during the times of rapid growth, and in women during reproductive life due to the extra demands of menstruation and pregnancy. Iron deficiency is also likely to occur in any circumstance in which there is pathological blood loss, for example from bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract from causes such as piles, peptic ulcers and so on. In the tropics one of the commonest causes of iron deficiency is blood loss due to hookworm infestation.

It is widely accepted that good health and education are important components of human capability. Although China has made encouraging progress in education and health causes, the role of poor health as an intervening factor in education has not been fully recognized. Iron deficiency is the major micronutrient deficiency encountered by children and adolescents. Many medical and social studies have found a negative correlation between iron deficiency and children physical growth and cognitive development. However, few of the existing literatures work to the conclusion of a causal relationship considering the endogenity problem in the estimation of a human capital model. The purpose of this paper is to study the iron status of elementary school children living in the poor countryside of western China and its educational consequence with the application of instrumental variable (IV) estimation.

An analytical framework of academic achievement production is adopted in the paper to empirically identify the relationship between iron deficiency and academic achievement to estimate the impact.

Using a sample of 45,549 school children from Gansu, the paper finds that around 86 per cent of the sample children are iron deficient and 40 per cent of the sample children are suffering from iron deficiency anaemia. The use of IV is innovative in identifying the endogenous health variable, namely iron deficiency.

This paper enriches existing studies on children health and education. IV estimation indicates that iron deficiency has a significant adverse impact on school children academic achievement. The paper suggests health intervention, such as iron intake fortification, as a possible measure for education cause.

Discusses the problems associated with an inadequate dietary supply of iron in relation to the prevention of anaemia. Describes results of recent work examining the free radical generation hypothesis to explain epidemiological observations that high iron intakes are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Further work is needed to derive the upper limits of dietary reference values. Attention is drawn to the difficulties in setting dietary reference values in the absence of information on bioavailability of whole diets.