Nutritional Considerations when enriching foods

Nutritional enrichment can be defined as the addition of nutrients – usually micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) – to a product, with the overall goal of improving or enhancing the quality or the value of the end product. Enrichment can be used in foods for nutritionally vulnerable populations, or for consumers who would feel they are getting more ‘bang for their buck’ by buying a more nutrient-dense product. Before embarking on the journey of enriching a product, there are a few factors that are essential to consider which could affect the desired outcome.

Target market

When deciding what nutrients to use to enrich your product, it is important to consider your target population. Different groups of people may have different micronutrient needs, and therefore it may be more beneficial to enrich using the micronutrients specifically required by that population. For example, it may be costly and ineffective to enrich your product with micronutrients that are plentiful in the average person’s diet, and/or where a deficiency is uncommon (e.g. a molybdenum deficiency is very uncommon). Examples of common micronutrient deficiencies in South Africa include vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium, iron and zinc deficiencies.

Processing

Some nutrients are specifically sensitive to light, heat, water or pH. Therefore, it is recommended that before enriching your product, you consider how stable each nutrient will be in your product. You may have to enrich the product at a later stage of the manufacturing process, or you may have to add an increased amount to account for losses during the manufacturing process.

Anti-nutrients

Anti-nutrients are defined as substances that occur naturally in foods but interfere with the absorption of other nutrients. Examples are the phytates found in legumes, which bind to zinc and iron and limit their absorption, and the tannins found in coffee and tea, which inhibit iron absorption. Anti-nutrients should be considered when enriching products; you may have to enrich products at a higher level to increase their bioavailability (the amount the body absorbs), or remove the anti-nutrients before enrichment. One example of this is soaking and rinsing legumes before manufacturing or processing, as this process has been shown to remove 90% of the phytates, thereby increasing iron and zinc bioavailability.

What factors are required to enhance absorption?

Just as some anti-nutrients limit absorption, there are some nutrients that aid in the absorption of other nutrients. It is therefore beneficial for the manufacturer to consider enriching with these absorption-aiding nutrients to create a higher-quality product. Examples include vitamin C, which enhances the absorption of iron, and vitamin D, which is needed for calcium absorption.

What do the regulations say?

The main goal of enrichment may be to benefit the consumer nutritionally by creating a high-quality product. However, when labelling the product you must consider the regulations relating to the labelling and advertising of foodstuffs (R. 146/ 2010): these state that nutrients can only be listed in the nutritional information table if they are present at more than 5% of the Nutrient Reference Value (NRV) per serving, and claims (such as ‘source of…’) may only be present on the label if the nutrient content is more than 15% NRV. Over-enriching is also a risk, as it may result in the product meeting the requirements for a scheduled supplement, which means it cannot be sold as a foodstuff any longer; it would have to be classified as a complementary medicine.

By considering all these factors, the manufacturer can ensure that they are producing a cost-effective, nutrient-dense, high-quality product.

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