Food Fortification in Canada
Experiences and Issues in Controlling Micronutrient Malnutrition

Mahshid Lotfi

MI 2001, ISBN 1-894217-16-0
80 pp., paper, 6¾" x 6¾"
(available May 2001)

Résumé français à venir 

For almost 50 years, the health of Canadians has been enhanced through the addition of micronutrients to staple foods. Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals have been drastically curtailed through food fortification and enrichment, with a consequent improvement in nutritional well-being. In the developing world, however, micronutrient malnutrition remains a deadly reality. The health and socioeconomic well-being of billions of people in the South are adversely effected by dietary deficiencies of iron, iodine, and vitamin A.

This book documents the Canadian experience in controlling micronutrient malnutrition through food fortification. It examines the history of micronutrient addition in Canada, discusses the rationale for food fortification, looks at the regulatory and policy processes, and addresses some of the future challenges and opportunities. It presents invaluable wisdom that will be of use to any new or existing program of food fortification or, for that matter, any country that is considering fortification as a means of controlling and preventing micronutrient malnutrition in its population.

Food Fortification in Canada will interest food-sector professionals, nutritionists and health-care workers, students and academics in nutrition and food sciences, policy- and decision-makers in both the public and private sectors, program managers in developing countries, and citizens concerned with development issues and the food industry in Canada and abroad.
 

The Author

Mahshid Lotfi holds a master’s degree in nutritional sciences and a doctorate in physiological nutrition from the University of London, UK. Dr Lotfi has worked as a teacher and researcher in the UK, as an associate professor in Iran, and as a consultant and special adviser to the United Nations Sub-Committee on Nutrition, first with the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy, and later with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Since 1991, Dr Lotfi has worked for IDRC and the Micronutrient Initiative as Senior Program Specialist, where she has monitored and helped to develop international health, nutrition, and development programs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
 

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

1. History of Micronutrient Addition to Foods in Canada

2. Rationale and Effectiveness Criteria in Canada

3. Regulatory Framework and Control Mechanisms in Canada

4. The Policy Framework for the Addition of Nutrients to Foods

5. Recent Health Canada Policy Review Respecting Nutrient Addition to Foods

6. Future Challenges and Opportunities for Micronutrient Addition to Foods in Canada

Bibliography

Annexes