What Is Bread Fortification?

What Is Bread Fortification?

Bread is a vital, staple food that millions of people eat every day, and speciality bread suppliers have been helping to provide loaves of bread for every kind of person for decades.

The fortification of bread and other staple foods has been in the news lately, as both the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition have published rapid reviews about whether bread should be fortified with vitamin D.

Whilst the results of that research remain inconclusive, fortification is a fascinating part of discussions about the health benefits of such a staple food.

 

What Is Fortification?

Fortification is when nutrients are added to food products. According to the British Nutrition Foundation, the difference between fortification and substitution or restoration is that for fortification it does not matter if the original food had the nutrients and minerals in it.

Restoration is the replacement of nutrients that are lost when a foodstuff is produced, such as putting iron back into white flour as it is removed during the milling process.

Substitution is where a nutrient is added to create an alternative product with enough nutritional value, such as milk substitutes.

Fortification of bread is very common, with iron, niacin and thiamin being returned to white and brown flour, as well as calcium being part of fortified flours (except for wholemeal and self-raising flours).

Fortification can be mandated or voluntarily added, the latter often seen with breakfast cereals.

Generally, when bread brands and cereals have voluntary fortification, it is often used as a selling point, as they can call it a source of a given vitamin or mineral.

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By | 2020-11-27T11:03:42+00:00 November 27th, 2020|Blog|Comments Off on What Is Bread Fortification?

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