Global Data Visualizations

Total amount, in metric tons (MT), and/or percentage share of food vehicle industrially processed, by year.

Implementing food fortification is most sustainable and feasible if the food vehicle is industrially processed. Understanding the proportion of food that is industrially processed provides an estimate of the maximum quantity or proportion of food in the country that can be fortified feasibly. Although fortification of non-industrially processed food is technically possible, the automation that typically occurs under industrial food production allows for consistent food production and quality control. It is also easier for regulatory authorities to monitor food production at a small number of industrial food producers than a high number of small and/or medium-scale producers.

A food has been defined as industrially processed if it has been processed in facilities of the following capacity:

• Wheat and Maize Flours – 20 MT/day grain processing rated capacity.
• Rice – 5 MT/hour paddy processing rated capacity.
• Oil – 5 MT/day rated capacity.

Industrially processed salt is not defined – although large-scale production of salt also confers automation, improved quality control, and lower regulatory monitoring resources, the Iodine Global Network supports the fortification of non-industrially processed salt.

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.

• GFDx definitions of industrially processed food are proxy definitions, meant to imply that food producers at this scale are likely to be consolidated and automated. However, the actual definition of industrial processing may vary by country.
• Proportion of food industrially processed is often not openly available and relies on information from the private sector. GFDx relies on responses to its bi-annual survey to populate this data; in many cases this data may be “expert opinion” based on their understanding of the food industry in that country.
• Survey respondents may respond with proportions rather than amounts (e.g., 30% of the flour in a country is industrially processed). In these cases, GFDx calculates the amount in metric tons (MT) using the FAO estimate of the total food available in that country.
• Conversely, if respondents provide amounts rather than proportions, GFDx calculates the proportion using the FAO estimate of the total food available in that country.

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.

• 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.

WHO: Global database on the Implementation of Food and Nutrition Action (GIFNA).

Global Fortification Data Exchange. Chart: Quantity and proportion of food vehicle industrially processed by year. Accessed dd/month/yyyy. [http://www.fortificationdata.org.]