FORTIFICATION RESOURCES

We have provided a few important resources on food fortification below. More resources can be found on the FFI, IGN, and GAIN websites. If you have any questions on any of the materials on this page, or have suggestions for improvement, please get in touch.

COVID-19 Resources Fortification Resources Technical Briefs In-country Case Studies Videos

UPCOMING EVENTS

NEW! Resources on Fortification During COVID-19

Photo Credit: CDC

COVID-19 and Micronutrients Resource Hub
GAIN, SUN and Nutrition Connect hosted a webinar on COVID & fortification on Wednesday, 10/7 at 14.30 CEST – view the recording at https://nutritionconnect.org/webinar-fortification-covid19
- Brief: COVID-19 is making it harder for vulnerable people to access healthy food. Strengthening large scale food fortification should be part of the response.
GAIN Premix Facility (GPF)
The GAIN Premix Facility conducts technical audits on micronutrient premix blenders around the world to support access to quality-assured premix for food fortification. They also organize competitive tenders for premix procurement – to learn more, please visit: http://gpf.gainhealth.org/
Fortification Assessment Coverage Toolkit (FACT)
Fortification Assessment Coverage Toolkit (FACT) is designed for carrying out coverage assessments of fortification programmes. The FACT consists of a manual and 10 practical tools and templates that provides standardised methods for the collection, analysis, and synthesis of data on quality, coverage, and consumption of fortified foods across countries while allowing for adaptations to meet specific country needs and contexts.

RESOURCES

Links to fortification resources are categorized in sections below.

General Fortification Background

Fortification Advocacy and Endorsements

Public Health Evidence for Fortification

Effect and safety of salt iodization to prevent iodine deficiency disorders: a systematic review with meta-analyses
Aburto N, Abudou M, Candeias V, Wu T. Effect and safety of salt iodization to prevent iodine deficiency disorders: a systematic review with meta-analyses. WHO eLibrary of Evidence for Nutrition Actions (eLENA). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014.
Evidence of the effectiveness of flour fortification programs on iron status and anemia: a systematic review
Pachón H, Spohrer R, Mei Z, Serdula M. Nutr Rev. 2015 Nov;73(11):780-95.
Folic acid to reduce neonatal mortality form neural tube disorders
Blencowe H, Cousens S, Modell B, Lawn J. International Journal of Epidemiology. April 2010 (suppl_1):i110-i121.
Impact of folic acid fortification of flour on neural tube defects: a systematic review
Castillo-Lancellotti C, Tur JA, Uauy R. Public Health Nutr. 2013 May;16(5):901-11. doi: 10.1017/S1368980012003576. Review. Erratum in: Public Health Nutr. 2013 Aug;16(8):1527
Summary: Fortifying Flour with Folic Acid to Prevent Neural Tube Defects
Food Fortification Initiative (FFI). Atlanta, USA. 2017.
Improved micronutrient status and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries following large-scale fortification: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis
Keats EC, Neufeld LM, Garrett GS, Mbuya MNN, Bhutta ZA. Improved micronutrient status and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries following large-scale fortification: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Jun 1;109(6):1696-1708. Doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz023.

Fortification Program Best Practices

Fortification Guidelines

Fortification Assessment Coverage Toolkit (FACT)

Fortification Assessment Coverage Toolkit (FACT)
Fortification Assessment Coverage Toolkit (FACT) is designed for carrying out coverage assessments of fortification programmes. The FACT consists of a manual and 10 practical tools and templates that provides standardised methods for the collection, analysis, and synthesis of data on quality, coverage, and consumption of fortified foods across countries while allowing for adaptations to meet specific country needs and contexts.

Premix Resources

Micronutrient survey manual and toolkit

TECHNICAL BRIEFS

The GFDx produced technical briefs to highlight global progress, key achievements, program gaps, dissonance with fortification best practices, and general recommendations to improve food fortification programs.

Global Status of Food Fortification

Global Status of Food Fortification Compliance or Quality

Global Status of Fortified Food Coverage

Potential Nutrient Intake from Fortified Foods

IN-COUNTRY CASE STUDIES

The GFDx was designed to empower governments, donors, implementing agencies, and other members of the global health and development community to reach populations affected by vitamin and mineral deficiencies with data-driven policy and programs. Despite global usage of the Global Fortification Data Exchange (GFDx) among various stakeholders (such as technical staff, academics, non-governmental organizations, donors and others) website analytics for the period between 2017-2019 demonstrate that usage is low among most low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

To further increase usage of the platform and reinforce the value and uptake of the GFDx data for key stakeholders in-country for decision making, the GFDx secretariat held consultative dialogues with fortification stakeholders in seven countries to better understand how the GFDx could be improved to better meet their decision-making needs on fortification policies and programs.

The consultative dialogues were held virtually in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The consultations included a variety of representatives, ranging from development partners, donors, industry, research and academic institutions, food regulators, and premix suppliers. The following are key themes and recommendations from all consultations and potential next steps for improving the GFDx.