Fortifying staple foods with key vitamins and minerals is a proven sustainable and effective approach to improving the health and well-being of large numbers of vulnerable people. While fortification is mandatory for many foods, the availability of high-quality fortified foods is often low. There is a large unfinished agenda around legislating the fortification of grains with iron and folic acid, and the fortification of edible oils and vitamin A. This briefing paper calls for enactment and enforcement of fortification legislation, and the improvement of the quality and coverage of existing programmes.
Various actors have critical roles to play in tackling food fortification’s unfinished agenda: Donors can increase commitment and funding; national governments can ensure that fortification programmes are monitored and regulations effectively incentivised and enforced; industry can produce high-quality fortified foods; and civil society can hold industry and governments accountable.