NGER A LIFE FREE FROM HUNGER - Save the Children

a life free from hunger
MASS FORTIFICATION
Mass fortification is a cost-effective intervention that uses the country’s existing food
delivery system. As production is generally large scale, the price increase for the
consumer is small. In fact, analysis from the World Food Programme, using Save the
Children’s Cost of Diet tool, shows that, in Mozambique, flour fortification lowers the
price of the minimum cost nutritious diet by 12%, and fortified maize flour lowers family
food expenses by up to 18%. 31 The fortification of staple foods that are widely consumed
by the general population means that poorer and more remote communities are likely
to benefit. It does not require families to change what they eat or how they prepare it.
Mass fortification programmes are increasingly common, especially when it comes to
fortified flour and iodised salt. Between 1990 and 2009, for example, the number of
households in developing countries consuming iodised salt rose from 20% to 70%. This
coincided with a 43% (110 to 47) reduction between 1993 and 2007 in the number of
countries in which iodine-deficiency disorders were a public health concern. 32 Other
programmes have also been successfully undertaken through a range of foods (including
rice, cooking staples, such as sugar and oil, and condiments, such as soy and fish sauces),
with demonstrated impact. 33
The downside of mass fortification is that infants and young children, who have high
micronutrient needs but consume relatively small amounts of staple food, are less
likely to obtain the recommended intake this way. However, it can contribute to better
FLOUR POWER IN SOUTH AFRICA
The most effective mass fortification programmes are usually those initiated and
regulated by national government. 34 In 2003, for example, South Africa launched
its National Food Fortification Programme, mandating manufacturers to fortify
bread wheat flour or maize meal with eight micronutrients including vitamin A,
folic acid, iron and zinc.
An impact study found a two-thirds reduction in perinatal (foetal or neonatal)
deaths related to neural tube defects (an opening in the spinal cord or brain that
occurs very early in human development), and a 39% reduction in neural tube
defect-related infant mortality. 35
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