518
cure rickets in early nineteenth century. Later the fortification of milk with vitamin
D had been started and resulted an eradication of rickets from America and Europe.
But in the 1940 and 1950 several outbreak of vitamin D intoxication were occurred
in Europe and led to prohibition of fortification of food with vitamin D and the reappearance of rickets occurred. Again in 1957 the American Medical Association’s
Council on Foods and Nutrition confirmed the importance of vitamin D fortified
milk in preventing rickets in children (Allen et al. 2006).
Vitamin D deficiency a major problem among those who live in the more northerly or southerly latitudes where UV radiation levels are lower during the winter
months. For this reason, it is reasonable to consider adding of vitamin D to any
complementary food if this is technically feasible. American medical association
recommends milk as a vehicle and to contain 10 μ/quart (Abrams and Atkinson 2003).
23.5.2.2 Vitamin A
Breast milk from well-nourished mother is a good source of vitamin A. However, in
some areas of the world children are weaned prematurely and must take fortified
food with vitamin A to reduce the intake gap. In average levels of intake, human
milk would meet 77–84% of RDI for infants aged 6–11 months and 69% of RDI for
children aged 12–23 mo. The exact figure may be vary from place to place
(Mora 2003).
Strategies that supply effective amount of vitamin A over long period of time
would be useful to reach the population at risk. When the risk of vitamin A deficiency become the highest; fortification has to be used as part of public health and
nutrition programs to prevent nutritional deficiencies. It has to be properly designed,
manufactured, and commercially available at affordable prices to populations at risk
(Dary and Mora 2002).
Oil is an ideal vehicle for vitamin A because of its fat solubility. Fortifying vegetable oil are simple and easy to implement at low cost. Oil also stabilizes retinol
and delays the oxidation of vitamins. After oil other halogenated oil products such
as margarine are the most suitable vehicle for vitamin A. This method is applied in
many countries to mimic the nutritional value of butter. In some countries cereal
flours and meals are fortified with vitamin A which is technically feasible and nutrient stability is good. However, there is a losses of vitamin A during transportation,
storage and food preparation. Losses have been estimated at 30–50%. Sugar is also
a good vehicle for fortification of vitamin A in some countries when other option is
in appropriate. Some countries in Central America decided to fortify sugar because
other options such as, oil/margarine and wheat flour were neither widely distributed
nor consumed by the most needy individuals; dairy products were scarce; and corn
flour, although widely consumed, was mostly produced at home (Dary and
Mora 2002).
A. G. Mtewa et al.
cure rickets in early nineteenth century. Later the fortification of milk with vitamin
D had been started and resulted an eradication of rickets from America and Europe.
But in the 1940 and 1950 several outbreak of vitamin D intoxication were occurred
in Europe and led to prohibition of fortification of food with vitamin D and the reappearance of rickets occurred. Again in 1957 the American Medical Association’s
Council on Foods and Nutrition confirmed the importance of vitamin D fortified
milk in preventing rickets in children (Allen et al. 2006).
Vitamin D deficiency a major problem among those who live in the more northerly or southerly latitudes where UV radiation levels are lower during the winter
months. For this reason, it is reasonable to consider adding of vitamin D to any
complementary food if this is technically feasible. American medical association
recommends milk as a vehicle and to contain 10 μ/quart (Abrams and Atkinson 2003).
23.5.2.2 Vitamin A
Breast milk from well-nourished mother is a good source of vitamin A. However, in
some areas of the world children are weaned prematurely and must take fortified
food with vitamin A to reduce the intake gap. In average levels of intake, human
milk would meet 77–84% of RDI for infants aged 6–11 months and 69% of RDI for
children aged 12–23 mo. The exact figure may be vary from place to place
(Mora 2003).
Strategies that supply effective amount of vitamin A over long period of time
would be useful to reach the population at risk. When the risk of vitamin A deficiency become the highest; fortification has to be used as part of public health and
nutrition programs to prevent nutritional deficiencies. It has to be properly designed,
manufactured, and commercially available at affordable prices to populations at risk
(Dary and Mora 2002).
Oil is an ideal vehicle for vitamin A because of its fat solubility. Fortifying vegetable oil are simple and easy to implement at low cost. Oil also stabilizes retinol
and delays the oxidation of vitamins. After oil other halogenated oil products such
as margarine are the most suitable vehicle for vitamin A. This method is applied in
many countries to mimic the nutritional value of butter. In some countries cereal
flours and meals are fortified with vitamin A which is technically feasible and nutrient stability is good. However, there is a losses of vitamin A during transportation,
storage and food preparation. Losses have been estimated at 30–50%. Sugar is also
a good vehicle for fortification of vitamin A in some countries when other option is
in appropriate. Some countries in Central America decided to fortify sugar because
other options such as, oil/margarine and wheat flour were neither widely distributed
nor consumed by the most needy individuals; dairy products were scarce; and corn
flour, although widely consumed, was mostly produced at home (Dary and
Mora 2002).
A. G. Mtewa et al.