The scaling up staple food fortification conclave was very engaging consultation conducted in partnership with CII-GAIIN-FFRC-FSSAI– SBY. Fortification has proven to be an effective mechanism for tackling malnutrition.
Welcome and Opening Remarks were given by Rajesh Khare, Chairman, Madhya Pradesh State Council & CEO, Evonne Industries Pvt Ltd. He highlighted that ‘Industry is cognizant of the fact that fortification is a good mechanism to tackle malnutrition’.
Talking about Staple Food Fortification: Enriching Foods, Enriching Lives Arijit Chakrabarty, Senior Project Manager, GAIN – Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition said, It is a relieving fact that today in India around 90 per cent of population uses iodized salt. But in earlier times it was not the case, that’s why there were more malnourished people at that time then present.
It is finding from a study that out of all the malnourished people of the world, India’s share is 35%. The reason for this is the food law in micronutrients. Fortification is simple, low cost and no risk so it is very beneficial for health point of view.
Deeksha Bhatt, Coordinator, Food Fortification Resource Centre, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India talked about the role of FSSAI in Creating an enabling environment to initiate and scale-up staple food fortification. FSSAI enables Consumer communication, Regulatory support, Production fortification, establishing and running NABL labs that were instrumental in encouraging 15 States and 13 UT to adopt food fortification. She detailed upon organizing the FSSAI Eat Right Mela in Delhi.
