A number of measures need to be taken to distribute fortified rice at government schools.
Context
- A number of measures need to be taken to distribute fortified rice at government schools.
What is Fortified Rice?
- Fortified rice is artificially enriched with iron, vitamin B-12 and folic acid.
- Fortifying rice involves grinding broken rice into powder, mixing it with nutrients, and then shaping it into rice-like kernels using an extrusion process.
- These fortified kernels are then mixed with normal rice in a 1:100 ratio, and distributed for consumption.
What are the benefits?
- Fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals.
- Fortified rice can provide 30-50% of the recommended dietary allowance of iron that adults need to consume daily, based on average Indian consumption.
Concern
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- The corporatization of the food system can occur by insisting on processes that demand a centralisation of food supplies.
- Since the fortified kernels look and taste the same as normal rice grains, there is also an urgent need for quality control to ensure that consumers are not being cheated.
