{"id":30718,"date":"2024-10-11T17:42:10","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T12:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=30718"},"modified":"2024-10-11T17:45:20","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T12:15:20","slug":"union-cabinet-approves-continuation-fortified-rice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/11-10-2024\/union-cabinet-approves-continuation-fortified-rice","title":{"rendered":"Union Cabinet Approves Continuation Fortified Rice\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Union Cabinet extends the rice fortification initiative across welfare schemes until 2028 to combat anemia and nutritional deficiencies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The rice fortification would continue as a<strong> central sector initiative <\/strong>with <strong>100% funding by the Centre <\/strong>in order to ensure inclusive nutritional security in the country.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The free fortified rice will be provided under programmes such as <strong>Targeted Public Distribution System, Integrated Child Development Service, PM POSHAN<\/strong>, in all the States and Union Territories.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India)<strong> <\/strong>has established <strong>Food Fortification Resource Centre (FFRC)<\/strong> as a resource center to promote large-scale fortification of food<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is food fortification?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>According to WHO, <\/strong>fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of one or more micronutrients (i.e., vitamins and minerals) in a food or condiment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This is done to<strong> improve the nutritional quality<\/strong> of the food and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Food Fortification in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Rice fortification involves<\/strong> the addition of fortified rice kernels enriched with micronutrients <strong>(Iron, Folic Acid, Vitamin B 12<\/strong>) as per standards prescribed by FSSAI to regular rice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Milk is fortified<\/strong> with <strong>vitamins A and D<\/strong>, which helps in combating deficiencies linked to these vitamins.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Salt fortified<\/strong> with<strong> iodine (<\/strong>iodized salt) to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Advantages of fortification in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Addressing Nutritional Deficiencies: <\/strong>India faces significant issues related to <strong>hidden hunger, <\/strong>where micronutrient deficiencies exist even if calorie intake is adequate.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fortification tackles deficiencies like <strong>anemia (iron), rickets (vitamin D<\/strong>), and <strong>blindness (vitamin A).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cost-Effective: <\/strong>Fortification is an inexpensive way to improve the nutritional value of foods without requiring people to change their eating habits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Improved Public Health:<\/strong> By preventing conditions like anemia, iodine deficiency etc. Fortification leads to better results in cases of maternal and infant mortality.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to the <strong>National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), <\/strong>anemia remains a widespread issue in India, affecting children, women, and men across various age groups and income levels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Copenhagen Consensus <\/strong>estimates that every 1 Rupee spent on fortification results in 9 Rupees in benefits to the economy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concerns of food fortification<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Absorption:<\/strong> The added nutrients are not always fully absorbed by the body due to factors like cooking methods and the presence of inhibitors in food.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Example:<\/strong>&nbsp; Phytates in cereals that hinder iron absorption.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulatory Oversight:<\/strong> Without strict regulatory oversight, there is a risk of inadequate or excessive fortification, which could undermine the health benefits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Limited Access: <\/strong>Fortified food products fail to reach the poorest segments of society (Low Purchasing Power), who are among the worst section affected with nutritional deficiencies.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Measures<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The &#8216;F+&#8217; logo<\/strong> is an initiative by the FSSAI to standardize and indicate fortified foods.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Milk Fortification Project<\/strong> is a major initiative by the <strong>National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)<\/strong>, undertaken in collaboration with the World Bank. The project&#8217;s goal is to fortify milk with <strong>vitamins A and D.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Food fortification offers a powerful tool for <strong>addressing India&#8217;s significant malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency<\/strong> challenges.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>While it is not a panacea, when combined with other nutritional strategies and strong governmental support, it can help improve public health and contribute to the nation&#8217;s sustainable development goals.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background has-fixed-layout\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)<\/strong><br><br>&#8211; Established under <strong>Food Safety and Standards, 2006,<\/strong> the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) handles food-related issues including ensuring the safe availability of food for human consumption.&nbsp;<br>&#8211; It is an autonomous body under the <strong>Ministry of Health and Family Welfare<\/strong> that is responsible for promoting and protecting public health through various regulations and supervisions of food safety.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/centre-allocates-17082-crore-for-fortified-rice-supply-under-all-national-schemes\/article68736117.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Union Cabinet extends the rice fortification initiative across welfare schemes until 2028 to combat anemia and nutritional deficiencies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30718"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30721,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30718\/revisions\/30721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}