Abstract
Micronutrient deficiencies impose a considerable burden of disease on many middle and low income countries. Several strategies have been shown to be effective in improving micronutrient deficiencies. However, the impact of fortified condiments as well as fortified noodles is less well documented. We aimed to investigate existing evidence on the impact of micronutrient fortified condiments and noodles on hemoglobin, anemia, and functional outcomes in children and adults (age: 5 to 50 years). We conducted a literature review in electronic databases. In addition, we screened the homepages of relevant organizations and journals. We included randomized controlled trials (RCT). Of 1046 retrieved studies, 14 RCT provided data for the meta-analysis. Micronutrient fortification of condiments and noodles increased hemoglobin concentrations by 0.74 g/dL (95%-confidence intervals (95%-CI): 0.56 to 0.93; 12 studies) and 0.3 g/dL (95%-CI: 0.12 to 0.48; 1 study), respectively. Micronutrient fortification also led to a reduced risk of having anemia (risk ratio 0.59 (95%-CI 0.44 to 0.80)). Ferritin concentrations increased with fortified condiments. Functional outcomes were rarely assessed and showed mixed results. The use of micronutrient fortified condiments can be a strategy to reduce anemia in children and adults due to micronutrient deficiencies. The effect of fortified noodles seems to be smaller.
Highlights
Micronutrient (MN) deficiencies impose a considerable burden of disease on many middle- and low-income countries, resulting for example in reduced growth, high anemia prevalence, or increased infection rates [1]
Micronutrient fortification led to a reduced risk of having anemia
(Table 2). 11 of 14 studies were conducted in Asia (India [25,26,27,28], Vietnam [16,17,18], China [32,33], The carrier used for micronutrients salt six times [21,24,25,26,27,28], fish[21], sauce three times[20])
Summary
Micronutrient (MN) deficiencies impose a considerable burden of disease on many middle- and low-income countries, resulting for example in reduced growth, high anemia prevalence, or increased infection rates [1]. Several strategies, proposed in recommendations and guidelines, have been shown to be effective in preventing or reducing MN deficiencies in different target populations and with different carriers for MN [2,3,4]: Examples include food-based approaches (such as spreads to increase energy-density and MN content of food; MN powders for home fortification with sprinkles; fortified condiments) and MN supplementation (such as vitamin A capsules administered at defined intervals). Fortified condiments (widely consumed in Africa and Asia) and fortified noodles ( consumed in Eastern-Asia) are two such centrally processed nutrition types which are already on the market, even in low-income countries
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