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Population coverage of fortified food

The percentage of a country’s population consuming the food vehicle that is fortified at any level.

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Interpretation

Coverage of the fortified food in the population is the proportion that reportedly eats the fortified food vehicle in question. The food is confirmed to be fortified by reading the label, measuring the presence of the nutrient in the food or other method.

Population coverage is presented for up to two scenarios: 1) when asked among all individuals or households in a survey, and 2) when asked among those individuals or households that report having the food vehicle in their home at the time of the survey.

Indicator and term descriptions

Mandatory fortification:The country has legal documentation that has the effect of currently mandating fortification of the food vehicle in question with one or more vitamins or minerals i.e. the documentation indicates that fortification of all or some of the food is compulsory or required.

Voluntary fortification: The country has a fortification standard that provides guidance on levels and nutrient compounds for fortification but does not have the effect of mandating or requiring fortification. If a country has mandatory fortification for that food vehicle, it will be categorized by GFDx as not having voluntary fortification, even if some types of the food vehicle or some nutrients may be fortified on a voluntary basis.

Population coverage of food vehicle (any level): The proportion of the population (typically measured via household surveys) that reports consuming, preparing foods at home, or have the food vehicle in the household on the day of the survey (or foods made with that food vehicle) that is confirmed to be fortified at any level.

Proxy using other indicators: The proportion of the population that is estimated to consume a fortified and industrially processed food vehicle, based on several indicators: Daily Food Intake / Availability, Total Food Availability, Proportion of Industrially Processed Food, and Proportion of Fortified Food. It is used if a national survey or other published and quality-assured data are unavailable on reported usage of a fortified food vehicle.

Personal communication: The proportion of the population estimated to consume a fortified food vehicle. It is used if a report is not available or the proxy using other indicators cannot be calculated.

All households: Coverage is reported across all households (or individuals) surveyed. This includes individuals who do not have the food in their homes on the day of the survey.

Households with food: Coverage is reported only among those households (or individuals) who had the food in their homes on the day of the survey.

Additional information about this indicator
How to download data

Follow these steps to download data from the visualization as an Excel or CSV file:

  • Click on the “Data” tab at the bottom of the visualization window.
  • Hover over the header row of the table until an ellipses (three dots […]) appears.
  • Click on “more options” and a drop-down menu will appear. Select “Export data.”
  • In the new window, select the export format that best supports your needs and click the “Export” button.
Considerations

Interpreting whether coverage of a fortified food reflects an optimally operating program requires contextual information on the total opportunity of fortified food in a population. Refer to the GFDx visualization “maximum potential coverage of fortified food.” For example, if 60% of the population consumes the food, and 50% of the population consumes industrially processed version of the food, then you would not expect more than 50% of the population to consume the fortified food.

Methodology

GFDx populates its database through a bi-annual survey, aiming to reach 196 countries. In between survey cycles, the GFDx database is updated when new information is received directly from fortification partners and/or national stakeholders. To share data for your country, please contact us at info@fortificationdata.org.

For more information about GFDx methodology and indicators: GFDx Data Dictionary.

Data sources
  • The source is the author, name and publication information of the country-specific document.
  • Country classifications of income status and geographic region are from the World Bank and the United Nations, respectively.
Suggested citation

Global Fortification Data Exchange. Map: Population coverage of fortified food. Accessed dd/month/yyyy. [http://www.fortificationdata.org.]