- Fortification is the addition during food manufacture of essential vitamins and minerals to stable foods. Fortification is normally performed under and according to government regulation and is increasingly becoming compulsory across Africa.
- Fortification involves adding vitamins and minerals in their chemical form and blending them in foodstuffs such as maize meal, wheat flour and even sugar. Typically, several different vitamins and minerals are added, for example Vitamin A, Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B9 and B12, iron and zinc. They are added in the form of a pre-mix powder, which is obtained from particular approved suppliers. These premixes are very inexpensive and only marginally increase the cost of manufacturing the meal/flour.
- Special automated dosing and blending equipment has been developed to ensure that the vitamins and minerals are added at the correct concentration and are uniformly distributed throughout the meal/flour. The dosing and blending equipment is widely available, reliable, simple to use and is relatively inexpensive.
