Food Technology and Processing

Food Nutrification

Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals that people require to keep their minds alert, their bodies healthy to fight diseases and have healthy babies. If one does not get enough of even one micronutrient, one may develop a deficiency and become ill.

Food enrichment refers to the restoration of the natural nutritive value of a food before it is processed, while fortification is the adding of vitamins or minerals to a food at levels higher than it originally possessed, though "fortification" is commonly used to refer to both processes.

Many people do not eat a wide enough variety of foods to provide all the micronutrients they need. One way of obtaining extra micronutrients is to eat foods that have been fortified. All maize meal and white and brown bread flour (and bread baked with this flour) in South Africa are fortified with the following micro-nutrients: vitamin A, ribo flavine, thiamine, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid, iron and zinc.

However there might be issues of getting more than the recommended amount, especially to vulnerable population groups like infants, the elderly and pregnant women. Economic issues pertaining to food fortification have also emerged. The wealthy, who may already eat enough nutrients, may be consuming more than they need when they purchase fortified products, while those most in need of the added nutrients may not be able to afford to buy enough fortified foods.