“Vitamin A deficiency is causing several
ailments pertaining to heart, bones and muscles. This deficiency can be covered
up by adequate milk intake. We are advising milk processing companies to
fortify their milk in order to improve the concentration of such nutritive
components in it,” Dr Anita Bhatnagar Jain, Additional Director, Food Security
and Drugs Administration, said while addressing officials of various milk
processing companies across the country.
Besides nourishment, we also
inherently require vitamins and minerals, but due to the shift in food
habits, our bodies’ requirement of the nutritive components is not being met
with. To cover this deficiency up, synthetically sourced vitamins and minerals
are being added to food items during processing. This improves the nutritive
value of the food products and this entire process is termed ‘fortification’.
In Lucknow, a technical workshop was
recently organized to encourage 30 milk processing units towards milk
fortification. Dr Jain had informed in this workshop, “The Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India (FSSAI) has formed the standards for the micro-nutrients to
be incorporated into the milk. Instead of cow’s milk or full fat-milk, toned,
double-toned and skimmed milk would have to be fortified. Many milk processing
and oil companies have already begun doing so within the state, but it is the
aim of our department that 71 milk processing units in Uttar Pradesh follow
this.”
In Lucknow, a technical workshop was recently organized to encourage 30 milk processing units towards milk fortification.
Attending the workshop, Dr M Gupta, general
manager CP Milk and Food Product Company, has been fortifying milk for the past
eight months. Sharing his experiences during the workshop, he said: “Our unit
processes 2.5 lakh liters of milk on a daily basis, out of which 1.2 lakh liter
milk is fortified. There is no harm in doing so. We have been fortifying our milk in
compliance with the FSSAI standards.”
Like Dr Gupta, many other officials of
various milk processing units across the country shared their experiences with
the fortified milk as a product. Jaya Tripathi, who is a fortification
consultant to Indian Health Action Trust informed: “Several major as well as
minor companies, including Parag and Namaste India, have taken up fortifying
milk. Those which haven’t so far, are now being encouraged to do so and also
shall be trained soon in it.”
The FSSAI had
initiated the regulations in August 2018
In cognizance of the widespread
nutritive deficiency among people, the FSSAI had, in 2018, issued the
regulations for food fortification. These regulations directed the companies to
fortify wheat flour, rice, milk, salt and cooking oil whereby they had to add
synthetic Vitamin A and D to cooking oil and milk.
Similarly, wheat flour and rice were
to be fortified with synthetic B-12 and folic acid whereas salt is to be fortified
with Iodine as well as iron as per the prescribed standards. Many companies are
already fortifying said food products. As per the FSSAI, in the country’s
organized sector, 50 per cent of cooking oil and 35 per cent of packaged milk
is being fortified already.
70 per cent
population suffering from nutritive deficiency
As per the FSSAI, 70 per cent of the
population in India is not able to adequately consume micro-nutritive elements
such as vitamins and minerals. As per the report of the National Nutrition Institute,
food served in 40 per cent homes in India to children is unbalanced. 55 per cent
of children below five years of age are underweight and 52 per cent have below
average height. Similarly, children up to five years suffer from Vitamin A deficiency.
People’s food is fast losing the nutritive value from proteins, iron, calcium
and thiamine. Observing all this, the FSSAI is emphasizing upon food
fortification.
