FOOD FORTIFICATION

What is food fortification?

Food fortification is defined as the practice of adding vitamins and minerals to commonly consumed foods during processing to increase their nutritional value.These nutrients may or may not have been originally present in the food before processing.

It can be noted that biofortification differs from conventional food fortification in that biofortification aims to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than through manual means during processing of the crops.

Fortification in India

Currently government is promoting fortification in following 5 food items:

1- Rice:  Department of Food & Public Distribution (DFPD) has been running a “Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on Fortification of Rice & its distribution through Public Distribution System”. The scheme was initiated in 2019-20 for a three-year pilot run. This scheme will run till 2023 and rice will be supplied to the beneficiaries at the rate of Re 1 per kilogram.

For rice fortification, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is the nodal agency. 

2- Wheat: The decision on fortification of wheat was announced in 2018 and is being implemented in 12 states under India’s flagship Poshan Abhiyaan to improve nutrition among children, adolescents, pregnant mothers and lactating mothers.

3- Edible oil: Fortification of edible oil, too, was made compulsory across the country by FSSAI in 2018.

4- Milk: Fortification of milk was started in 2017 under which the National Dairy Development Board of India (NDDB) is pushing companies to add vitamin D.

5- Salt: Adding iodine

 Benefits of fortification

1- High benefit-to-cost ratio: Food fortification has a high benefit-to-cost ratio. The Copenhagen Consensus estimates that every 1 Rupee spent on fortification results in 9 Rupees in benefits to the economy. While an initial investment to purchase both the equipment and the vitamin and mineral premix is required, the overall costs of fortification are extremely low.

Also, fortification ensures a threshold level of nutrition at a very low cost—just 15 paisa to fortify a litre of oil and 2 paisa for a litre of milk.

2- No socio-cultural barriers: Fortification does not require any changes in food habits and patterns of people. It is a socio-culturally acceptable way to deliver nutrients to people

3- No alteration of food characteristics: It does not alter the characteristics of the food like the taste, aroma or the texture of the food

4- Quick implementation: It can be implemented quickly as well as show results in improvement of health in a relatively short period of time.

5- Wide reach: Since the nutrients are added to widely consumed staple foods, fortification is an excellent way to improve the health of a large section of the population, all at once.

Disadvantages Of Food Fortification

1- Not A Substitute Of Good Nutrition

While fortified foods contain increased amounts of selected micronutrients, they are not a substitute for a good quality diet that supplies adequate amounts of energy, protein, essential fats and other food constituents required for optimal health.

2- Might Not Benefit Infants And Children

A child will get nutrition only if the lactating mother will be healthy and consumes adequate nutrition. After the six months, complementary feeding is initiated, wherein infants and children consume relatively small amounts of food.

3- Fails To Cater To The Poorest Segment of The Population

Poorest segments of the general population have restricted access to fortified foods in the open markets due to low purchasing power and an underdeveloped distribution channel. 

4- Not A Long Term Solution-

Food fortification is a short and medium term measure. For long term sustainability, dietary diversity is the key to address micronutrient malnutrition.

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POLAR AMPLIFICATION

Polar amplification can be defined as the climate models that predict amplified warming in Polar Regions due to climate feedbacks. 

 other words, when climate change near the pole compared to the rest of the hemisphere or globe in response to a change in global climate forcing, such as the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is called Polar amplification.

Reasons:

Change in Albedo:

• Albedo is a measure of how much light that hits a surface is reflected without being absorbed.

• When bright and reflective ice (with more albedo) melts, it gives way to a darker ocean (lowering albedo); this amplifies the warming trend because the ocean surface absorbs more heat from the Sun than the surface of snow and ice.

Changing Ocean currents:

• Ocean currents normally bring in warmer water from the Pacific, and colder water exits out of the Arctic into the Atlantic.

• But those currents may be changing because more melting ice is injecting the Arctic Ocean with freshwater. The missing ice also exposes the surface waters to more wind. This mixes up colder freshwater at the surface and warmer saltwater below, raising surface temperatures and further melting ice.

Changing Weather

• Ocean currents drive the powerful polar jet stream, which moves hot and cold air masses around the Northern Hemisphere. This is a product of the temperature differences between the Arctic and the tropics.

• But as the Arctic warms, the jet stream now undulates wildly north and south. This has been injecting the Arctic with warm air.

• Thunderstorms are also much more likely to occur in the tropics than the higher latitudes. The storms transport heat from the surface to higher levels of the atmosphere, where global wind patterns sweep it toward higher latitudes.

• The abundance of thunderstorms in tropics creates a near-constant flow of heat away from the tropics towards the Arctic

Impact in the Arctic:

1- The floating sea ice cover of the Arctic Ocean is shrinking, especially during summer.

2- Snow cover over land in the Arctic has decreased, notably in spring.

3- In addition, frozen ground in the Arctic, known as permafrost, is warming and in many areas thawing.

Effects Worldwide:

1- Higher temperature will cause a Sea-Level Rise globally that in turn has impacts like the destruction of ecosystems, displacement, loss of life and property etc.

2- Arctic permafrost thaw is also releasing the potent greenhouse gas methane causing profound global warming effects.

3- Arctic wildfire, called Zombie Fire intensity is also increasing each year as thawing ground dries out.

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UNION BUDGET

The Union Budget of India is the country’s comprehensive annual financial statement and is mentioned in Article 112 of the Indian constitution. It is a detailed account of the government’s finances including its revenues from various sources and outlays that will be incurred on different activities. It is important to note that the term “budget” is not mentioned in our constitution. 

The Union Budget is presented on 01st February every year since 2017. Prepared by the Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, it is presented by the means of a finance bill and appropriation bill. These bills need to be passed in the Parliament before the budget can come into effect on 01st April.

It is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government in a financial year. In addition to it, the Budget contains:

1-Estimates of revenue and capital receipts,

2-Ways and means to raise the revenue,

3-Estimates of expenditure,

4-Details of the actual receipts and expenditure of the closing financial year and the reasons for any deficit or surplus in that year, and

5-economic and financial policy of the coming year, i.e., taxation proposals, prospects of revenue, spending programme and introduction of new schemes/projects.

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SMILE SCHEME

 Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar launched the Central Sector scheme “SMILE: Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise” today at BHIM Auditorium, Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, 15, Janpath Road, New Delhi. This umbrella scheme, designed by Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, is set to provide welfare and rehabilitation to the Transgender community and the people engaged in the act of begging.

The two sub-schemes of SMILE - ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons’ and ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of engaged in the act of Begging’ - provide comprehensive welfare and rehabilitation measures to the Transgender community and the people engaged in the act of begging.

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