Regulating fortification

Food industry operates in the context of national and international regulations regarding food quality standards. Countries may have well-defined and strictly enforced regulations regarding additives, including fortificants, or may have virtually no such regulations.

Decisions on priorities for fortification must be based on the objectives of the national nutrition strategy, the overall nutritional conditions, dietary patterns and food intake data in a country. Government, in collaboration with consumer groups and the food industry, must determine how to regulate fortification to ensure a safe and nutritious food supply which would provide adequate vitamin and mineral intakes to help address specific nutritional problems, without causing excessive intakes by subgroups of the population.

The WHO/FAO Guidelines on Food Fortification with Micronutrients provides detailed guidelines on setting fortification limits for mass fortification and market driven approaches.

Examples of regional and country standards and guidelines are provided in the sections on specific commodities.