Food fortification for people likely in Chandigarh

Chandigarh, June 23 (UNI) The Chandigarh Administration has in principal agreed to the concept of food fortification for people in the union territory, official sources said.

The need of food fortification was felt due to the problem of iron deficiency and its ill effects on the people.

The nutritional status of the population is one of the most important factors determining the quality and productivity of the population, which inturn affects the national productivity.

A meeting was held here yesterday under the Chairmanship of Union Territory Home Secretary Krishna Mohan to discuss the issue.

Representatives of Chandigarh Roller Flour Mills Association, which had proposed the concept of food fortification to the UT Administration, also participated in the meeting.

The Association placed a detailed proposal regarding the implementation of the project before the administation. The initiative is based upon a similar model followed by Gujarat which implemented an elaborate and comprehensive food fortification programme which met with huge success.

It was informed that when someone was found to be anaemic, the deficiency was already severe and entrenched. Even frank anaemia is not easy to detect without blood test. Most people do not recognise anaemia as a problem, and certainly do not link it with iron deficiency.

Food fortification implies the addition of nutrients, to specific foods based on the dietary habits and nutritional status of the target population.

The effectiveness of a food fortification programme depends upon whether or not the fortified food is accepted, purchased and consumed by the targeted population. The food chosen as the carrier should be consumed in sufficient quantities to make significant contribution to the diet of the targeted population. Specific food habits and preferences of the targeted population determine the choice of the carrier.

In Chandigarh and the northern part of India, as whole wheat products such as 'atta' form part of the staple diet of the population, it forms a good choice of carrier for fortification.

The price of the fortified food should be affordable for the targeted population. With regard to the price of fortified 'atta' in Chandigarh, the President of Chandigarh Roller Flour Mills informed that, fortification being a social welfare initiative, the price of fortified atta would remain the same as non-fortified 'atta'.

UNI