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Bakery items better suited to secondary, and not primary, fortification
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Friday, 14 April, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Lucy Fernandes and Anurag More, Mumbai
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As bakery items are consumed intermittently, they may not be suitable for primary fortification, like oils and fats or salt. But they are certainly ideal for secondary fortification.
Laltu Sinha, consumer and retail manager, TechSci Research, spoke about healthier foods and the shift towards fortified variants in bakery.
He opined, “Today’s lifestyle has resulted in the deficiency of proper nutrition, and hence, increased the demand for fortified products.”
“Health and wellness are emerging as the key parameters for the bakery industry. Bakery items are increasingly moving into the functional food category, with a number of new developments,” Sinha said.
“Healthier and fortified products are entering the market. The fortification of baked products also has many merits to rely on,” he added.
While speaking on the demand of fortified of bakery products, Dev Lall, managing director, Bakers Circle (India) Private Limited, said, “The adding of minerals to bakery products in the consumers’ mind is not really a high-value proposition.”
“The trend today towards bakery, especially high-end, is lower sugar and sodium, no-added gluten or gluten-free and the use of better oils and fats and more fibres. Therefore, I do not feel the fortification will have much of a USP,” he added.
Jos Vast, chief executive officer, Bakery Academy, the Netherlands, stated, “Generally speaking, people are currently more concerned on fats, sugar, salts and some gluten and for health interest people now look to no-gluten or ancient grains, higher in fibre and/or proteins.”
“The latter seem to be the only option for bakers to tap into from an enrichment/fortification strategy,” he added.
In several countries, bread is enriched with vitamins and minerals, but done by law. In Europe, several vitamin-enriched products were launched, but not really been picked up.
Need for food fortification studies on micro-nutrients
Food fortification, an emerging trend in the industry, requires more studies on micro-nutrients and to address more significant concern of their bio-availability during processing.
Lall suggested, “Any new development needs to have a lot of studies. To claim a benefit of fortification in bakery, a very scientific study needs to be done that will span an entire life cycle.”
Stressing on the need for more literature on fortification, Sinha expressed, “The World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and many other international organisations have recognised that more than two billion people across the world suffer from a variety of micro-nutrient deficiencies.”
“To address this problem, many researchers and medical professionals are now studying the merits and demerits of food fortification for medical treatment, body building, and others,” he added.
“There are also several advantages in addressing nutrient deficiencies among population via food fortification as opposed to other methods; thus, prompting more research and studies in this domain,” Sinha stated.
Vast said, “If you are referring to the metabolism, absolutely we know relatively little on how vitamins and minerals that are naturally present in our crops and raw materials are metabolised by our body.”
“Secondarily, the genetics that could play a role are for now also ignored. We do know that for instance the presence of phytate hinders the bio-availability of certain minerals like iron,” he added.
“Sometimes, looking at wholewheat products is beneficial from a fibre point of view, but if it is yeast-based, it is likely to have too much phytate in the product,” Vast said.
Opportunities and technology for bakery fortification
H N Mishra, professor, food technology, agricultural and food engineering department, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, said, “Food fortification is now considered an important technology for providing health foods.”
“It has a great potential of meeting the menace of malnutrition in the country. Fortification is likely to add to the cost. But, there are means to keep the cost escalation to the minimum,” he added.
Sharing details on what makes a fortified food product, he added, “If it as an essential ingredient for the product, it cannot be called as a fortificant or if it contains the ingredients other than the basic components, the ingredients can be natural, synthetic or synthesised, which to be added for food fortification,” Mishra said.
R B Smarta, managing director, Interlink Marketing Consultancy Pvt Ltd, said, “I think they have developed technology. However, there is need of further development.”
“There are many people who are working on the technology because we need to look at each product separately, as it requires different technology,” he added.
Bakery foods that can be fortified
In principle, almost all bakery products can fall under the fortified category, rather it is merely a marketing perspective.
The food manufacturer is to decide what products will be likely accepted by the consumer, which ones will be more healthy and the ones which can make you more healthy, but should be communicated much about.
Multi-grain bread is an apt example. As per Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations, fortified foods should bear the logo approved by the government and mention the nutrient content on their packs.
The standards for the fortification of food set by FSSAI are expected to give a fillip to various segments of the industry in India, including bakery, provided that affordable technology is developed to offer products at competitive rates in the market.
While there is literature that is undoubtedly beneficial in developing the technology, experts have suggested that research and development (R&D) activities be undertaken.
According to FSSAI, a food product will be termed as fortified, if a fortified ingredient is used to enhance the nutritional profile of the product.
The apex regulator stated, “Fortified atta (flour) should contain added iron, folic acid and Vitamin B12. Apart from this, it can also be fortified with zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2 and Vitamin B6. The standards ensure the set of rules dictates how maida should be fortified - with iron, folic acid and Vitamin B12.”
Sinha said, “In 2000, West Bengal’s Darjeeling district became the first place in India to fortify wheat flour.”
“According to the current government estimates, 7.6 per cent of the industrially-milled wheat flour in India is fortified,” he added.
“In October 2016, FSSAI released draft standards for food fortification. Flour fortification is supported by the government of India, international agencies, national health and nutrition research institutions and flour milling professionals, who have contributed towards wheat flour fortification,” Sinha said.
“Fortification of food products is being exclusively controlled by the government as of now. Most of the fortified food is distributed under the government’s welfare system. The government has started providing fortified flour for the mid-day meal scheme, infant child development and public distribution system, which seem to have a significant health impact,” he added.
“There are several merits of bakery fortification, such as easy reach to the specific target group, low-cost technology, relatively easy premix addition, better vitamin retention and lesser sensory changes, as it is used relatively soon after production,” Sinha added.
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