Improving Food and Nutrition Security in Affluent Societies: The View of a Food Ingredients Manufacturer

Abstract

One approach to ensuring Food and Nutrition Security is to fortify foods with nutrients whose intakes are considered critical for good health. This can be done either by replacing what has been lost during food processing or by adding additional amounts of certain nutrients. In either instance, it is the responsibility of the ingredients supplier to provide products that comply with the physical-chemical properties of the food to which they are added. Moreover, along with the desired nutritional value, the final product has to offer the authentic taste demanded by the consumer. Another option besides food fortification is the provision of dietary supplements. These can be designed to meet basic nutritional needs, as in the case of multivitamin preparations, or to deliver individual nutrients to fill gaps in the diet. The challenge for the food ingredients supplier is to have not only the prerequisite technical capabilities but also the necessary expertise to develop, in close collaboration with the private and public sectors, solutions that the consumer will accept.