Enrichment and Fortification of Processed Foods

by Shereen Jegtvig

Food manufacturers enrich their products when they replace nutrients lost during processing.  For example, adding B vitamins to the white refined flour used to make bread.  Enrichment doesn’t necessarily make the refined flour as healthy as whole grain flour because the fiber isn’t replaced, but adding the B vitamins back into the flour is certainly better than nothing.

Fortification is when food manufacturers add nutrients to foods that wouldn’t normally be present.  This can range from the well accepted (vitamin-fortified breakfast cereals and vitamin D added to milk) to the just plain odd (Diet Coke with vitamins?).  Some fortified foods are called functional foods, which mean they provide some health benefit beyond the usual nutrition profile for that food.  Like margarine made with plant sterols that have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels with regular use. 

Both enrichment and fortification can add good things to processed foods, but that doesn’t always make them healthier.  For example, look at children’s cereals that are usually fortified with vitamins but contain way too much sugar and too little fiber:

Half of the calories of the Malto-O-Meal Apple Zings comes from sugar.  That’s just too much.  Before you shop, be sure to use the FoodEssentials tool to find the healthiest versions of your favorite foods.

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