Fortification Of Cereals Research Articles

Estimation of Individual Intakes of Folate in Women of Childbearing Age With and Without Simulation of Folic Acid Fortification

Objectives The objectives of this study were to examine variability of folate intake in order to estimate the number of days needed to accurately estimate intakes in women of childbearing age and to simulate the effect of folic acid fortification of cereals and grains on individual folate intake. Design Observational study of food intake over a 60-day period. Sampling A convenience sample of 21 women completed food records on randomly assigned days within a 60-day period. Outcomes measured Folate intake and variance ratios of folate intake. Statistical analysis Repeated measures analysis of variance. Results Six days of food records were needed to describe folate intake of these women of childbearing age (18 to 45 years) with 20% attenuation of a correlation coefficient between dietary folate intake and another biological variable. Seven days of records were needed with simulated folic acid fortification (assuming fortification of 140 μg folic acid per 100 g flour) and 5 days were needed with supplements containing 200 to 400 μg folic acid in addition to folic acid fortification. Food folate intake was 288±195 μg; only 2 of the participants consumed the recommended 400 μg. With fortification, folate intake increased to 550±279 μg without supplements and 609±327 μg with supplements. Applications Individual intakes of folate should be assessed with at least 7 days of dietary records (20% attenuation). In this sample, when folic acid fortification was added to dietary intake, routine supplementation was not necessary to achieve folate intakes of 400 μg in the majority of participants. The practice of routine folic acid supplementation should be considered carefully to ensure that individual intakes of folate do not exceed the upper limits of safety. J Am Diet Assoc. 1998;98:985-988.

US trends in nutrient intake: the 1987 and 1992 National Health Interview Surveys.

This study examined US trends in nutrient intake, using almost identical methods and nutrient databases in two time periods. An extensive dietary intake questionnaire was included in supplements to the 1987 and 1992 National Health Interview Surveys. Dietary data from approximately 11,000 persons in each of those years were analyzed. The total and saturated fat intake and the percentage of energy from fat declined among Whites and Hispanics, but only minimal changes were seen in Black Americans. The changes in fat intake were attributable principally to behavioral changes in frequency and type of fat-containing foods consumed rather than to the increased availability of leaner cuts of meat. Dietary cholesterol showed one of the largest declines of the nutrients examined. Less desirable changes were also seen. Cereal fortification played an important role in the observed changes in several micronutrients. Educational campaigns on dietary fat and cholesterol have been moderately effective, but not in all racial/ethnic groups. Future campaigns should emphasize maintaining or increasing micronutrient intake.

Effectiveness of Iron-Fortified Infant Cereal in Prevention of Iron Deficiency Anemia

Iron deficiency continues to be a common problem among infants throughout the world. Iron-fortified formula is effective in preventing iron deficiency but the benefit of iron-fortified cereal is controversial. We compared iron-fortified rice cereal to unfortified rice cereal in infants who were exclusively breast-fed for more than 4 months and to iron-fortified formula in infants who were weaned to formula before 4 months of age. The design was double blind in respect to the presence or absence of fortification iron in the cereal or formula and included 515 infants who were followed on the protocol from 4 to 15 months of age. Rice cereal was fortified with 55 mg of electrolytic iron per 100 g of dry cereal and infant formula with 12 mg of ferrous sulfate per 100 g of dry powder, levels approximating those in use in the United States. Measures of iron status were obtained at 8, 12, and 15 months. Infants with hemoglobin levels of < 105 g/L were excluded from the study and treated. Consumption of cereal reached plateaus at means of about 30 g/d after 6 months of age in the formula-fed groups and 26 g/d after 8 months in the breast-fed groups; these amounts are higher than the 19-g/d mean intake by the 73% of infants who consume such cereal in the United States. Among infants weaned to formula before 4 months, the cumulative percentages of infants excluded for anemia by 15 months were 8%, 24%, and 4%, respectively, in the fortified cereal, unfortified cereal and formula, and fortified formula groups (P < .01 unfortified vs either fortified group; the difference between the two fortified groups was not significant). In infants breast-fed for more than 4 months, the corresponding values were 13% and 27%, respectively, in the fortified and unfortified cereal groups (P < .05). Mean hemoglobin level and other iron status measures were in accord with these findings. Iron-fortified infant rice cereal can contribute substantially to preventing iron deficiency anemia.

Bioavailability of electrolytic iron in fortified infant cereal determined by hemoglobin repletion in piglets

Objectives of this research were to compare iron bioavailabilities from infant rice cereals fortified with either electrolytic iron (EI) or ferrous sulfate (FS) and to evaluate the piglet as a model for iron bioavailability studies. Iron bioavailability was assessed by hemoglobin repletion assay. Yorkshire piglets were weaned at 21 days of age and assigned to 2 groups of 8 on the basis of hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, litter, and sex. Iron depletion was achieved by simply withholding the iron injections normally given to newborn pigs. Repletion diets contained 780 g of iron fortified rice cereal per kg diet and new formulated to meet the nutrient requirements of piglets. The diets were identical except for the form of iron used to fortify the cereal (iron concentrations in the EI and FS diets were 118 and 127 mg/kg diet, respectively). The piglets were fed the repletion diets for 10 days. Means of initial/final Hb concentrations were 7.0/6.5 and 7.0/8.8 g/dL for the EI and FS groups, respectively. mean Hb iron gain (total Hb iron on day 11 minus total Hb iron on day 1) was significantly lower (P<0.001) in the group fed EI fortified cereal (20.62 versus 58.07 mg) Although the bioavailability of EI from commercial fortified infant cereals is low compared to FS, these products may supply a significant portion of the iron needs for many infants because of their high iron content. The piglet is a promising model for iron bioavailability studies.

Supplement use among a culturally diverse group of low-income pregnant women ,

Among a culturally diverse group of 344 low-income pregnant women, self-reported rates of supplement use prior to confirmation of pregnancy were much lower than those reported for young women in national surveys (16% vs. up to 40%, respectively). Prenatal vitamins, prescribed routinely for all patients, were reportedly taken at least four times a week by 86% of the subjects and two to three times a day by 5%. About 5% of the sample reported consuming highly fortified cereal at least once daily. There is a possibility of higher than recommended use of supplemental vitamins among these women resulting from misunderstanding of the number of pills to be taken and/or high consumption of highly fortified cereals.

Use of haemoglobin in foods—A review

Blood from domestic meat animals contains biologically valuable protein equivalent to 6–7% of the lean meat content in the carcass. The major part of the protein is haemoglobin in the erythrocytes which even in minute concentrations imparts a dark brownish colour to foods. Large scale use of haemoglobin in foods consequently requires that the protein is made colourless unless attempts are made to hide the colour by technological manipulation in processing. The haem pigment can be removed from the globin by extraction with acidified organic solvents, usually acetone, or absorption on certain agents like carboxymethylcellulose. Alternatively, the globin may be digested by proteolytic enzymes and the liberated amino acids separated from the haem by ultrafiltration or centrifugation. Another approach is oxidative destruction of the haem after inactivation of the catalase activity of the erythrocytes. Hydrogen peroxide is preferred as oxidative agent but care must be taken to limit its impairment of protein quality. Because of its high lysine content globin should be suitable for fortification of cereals. Together with the blood plasma globin it may be used to replace meat in cured meat products. Use of blood proteins in foods may, however, sometimes be opposed for psychological reasons.

Comparison of High Performance Liquid Chromatographic, Radiometric, and Lactobacillus casei Methods for the Determination of Folacin in Selected Foods

ABSTRACTThe results of reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC), competitive binding radiometric, and Lactobacillus casei methods were compared for the determination of total folacin in raw cabbage, a fortified cereal, and a fortified infant formula. A cation exchange procedure was developed which permitted the analysis of cabbage folacin by reverse phase HPLC after hydrolysis of folacin polyglutamates with endogenous conjugase. Although general agreement was observed between assays for the cereal product, marked variation was found for cabbage and the infant formula. These results suggest that the accuracy of the radiometric and L. casei assays may be influenced by the distribution of folacin derivatives present and other sample components. Reverse phase HPLC provides a direct analysis which is not subject to such variability.

ENZYMATIC FISH PROTEIN HYDROLYZATE: CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, NUTRITIVE VALUE AND USE AS A SUPPLEMENT TO CEREAL PROTEIN

ABSTRACTThis study is concerned with the production of an enzymatic fish protein hydrolyzate (EFPH) from Chilean hake (Merluccius gayi) and its ability to supplement cereal protein‐wheat, rice and corn‐as tested by biological studies in growing rats. Chemical analyses of several batches showed that the product contains about 63% of protein (N × 6.25). The amino acid profile indicated that all the essential amino acids are present in higher amounts than those established for man in the 1973 FAO/WHO amino acid scoring pattern, with the only exception of threonine which is in slight deficit. Lysine amounted to 11.8% (g per 16g N) of which 75% is biologically available. The biological value of protein of EFPH was tested as protein efficiency ratio (PER) in the rat. The adjusted PER values (casein = 2.50) were consistently higher than or at least equal to the standard. These results point out an excellent biological quality of the protein. Fortification of cereals with EFPH at the levels of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10% caused an increase in both quantity and quality of dietary protein, the latter being measured as protein efficiency ratio. The results obtained in these experiments show that this type of product can make a significant contribution to populations ingesting low protein diets such as those based on wheat, rice or corn.

A Chemical to Fight Tooth Decay

Dental caries, or ordinary tooth decay, may be the commonest of all chronic diseases. Almost everyone in the world is affected by it; although it is more prevalent in civilized countries, even in parts of Africa and Asia 40 to 60 percent of the population is affected in some way. But even with the high prevalence of the disease, -and its resulting high cost to health services, both the cause and cure for it are unknown. Scientists generally agree that the cause is bacteria, but they cannot agree as to which microorganism induces the lesion. Treatment has run the gamut from simply cutting down on sugars to oral hygienic techniques. The most effective method turned up in the past 25 years has been the addition of fluorides to community drinking water. But unfortunately water fluoridation does not cure dental caries or even completely prevent it. Water fluoridation is not the whole answer to dental health, says Dr. Robert Harris, chairman of the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a nutritionist, Dr. Harris feels that sugar plays too great a role in tooth decay to be ignored and that another chemical is needed to add to the armamentarium against tooth decay. The next chemical may be phosphates, which scientists have been investigating over the past 15 years (SN: 6/15/68, p. 572). Phosphates appear to counteract the effects of sugar when added to food, so that in conjunction with fluorides in the drinking water an additive effect could be achieved. The case for phosphates is based on the belief that factors other than bacteria cause tooth decay. The fact that one can recover from one attack of tooth decay without becoming immune to another makes the cause difficult to pin down. Most researchers feel other factors are also required for caries to develop: a cariogenic diet-usually one high in carbohydrates-and a group of mysterious factors which combine to create a susceptible host. Dr. Harris stumbled onto the discovery that phosphates effectively prevent dental caries in 1950 when he and Dr. Abraham E. Nizel, also of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at MIT, observed that diets containing corn and milk produced in Texas caused 40 percent as many caries when fed to hamsters as identical diets containing corn and milk produced in New England. They found that the Texas foods caused less trouble, not because they contained some cariostatic or decay-reducing factor, but because the New England food contained cariogenic or decay-causing factors. Experimenting further, they prepared salt mixtures omitting each of the elements successively. No effect was observed until phosphorus was omitted. When the phosphorus content of the New England diet was subsequently doubled, the cariogenic factor was destroyed and the diet became cariostatic. Since that time Drs. Harris and Nizel have completed hundreds of studies with phosphates in rodents and have found that in some instances caries have been reduced by as much as 95 percent. Interestingly, excellent results are obtained when rodent diets are augmented by two percent phosphates-an amount similar to that removed from natural foods during the refining process. The effectiveness of phosphates depends on the phosphate anion and cation with which it is combined, and foodstuffs with which they are fed. Studies comparing the cariostatic activities of a number of anion and cation combinations in rats show that sodium trimetaphosphate is the most effective, reducing caries by as much as 78 percent. To date, only four or five studies have been conducted with human beings; as yet the sodium trimetaphosphate has not been used. Dr. Samuel Dreizen, a University of Texas dental scientist who has experimented with phosphates in children, says studies are still equivocal, but that phosphates offer promise for an effective antidecay agent in the future. Dr. Dreizen compared presweetened breakfast cereal, with and without fortification, using one percent sodium dihydrogen phosphate in the diets of 500 school children, and found the incidence of dental caries reduced by 30 percent in those given the fortified cereal. In another study with 1,400 Australian Control diets for hamsters cause excessive cavities.

New Directions in World Agriculture

A paper on new developments in world agriculture delivered at the 1968 International Conference on War on Hunger held in Washington D.C. is presented. Although there has been progress in bringing about an agricultural revolution especially in Asia the food/population problem is not close to being solved and will not be until population growth is effectively slowed and eventually stabilized. Favorable prices for food grains in most Asian countries coupled with some dramatic new technologies in the form of high yielding varieties of rice wheat and coarse grains are triggering the agricultural revolution in Asia. The varieties are altering cultural practices the level and pattern of inputs used cropping patterns and the index of multiple cropping. Factors which will constrain the rate at which the new varieties are disseminated include inadequate water supplies a shortage of farm credit and susceptibility of some of the new high yielding varieties to local insects and diseases. Some exciting advances in food technology are the utilization of oil-seed meals in high protein foods and the fortification of cereals with synthetic amino acids. It is noted that the new developments may give food supplies a few years lead in the race with human numbers but as long as population accelerates the race continues.

Enrichment and fortification of cereals and cereal products with vitamins and minerals

Enrichment and fortification of cereals and cereal products with vitamins and minerals

Fortification of cereals and cereal products with proteins and amino acids

Fortification of cereals and cereal products with proteins and amino acids

Fortification of cereals with amino acids

The grim race between the growth in population and the efforts to maintain, much less to increase, the quantity and quality of the world's per eapita food supply is perhaps the most critical struggle taking place today. Aside from the pressing need for population control, it is perfectly clear that agricultural, economic, cultural, sanitary, and medical problems are all important factors limiting the assurance of adequate nutrition and the maintenance of optimal health. Thus, the problem of malnutritioll is said to be multifaceted or multifactorial. These quite fashionable adjectives really explain nothing; worse, there is the risk of these labels' merely providing a cynical excuse for not vigorously attacking particular aspects of a health problem, assuming this would be a partial solution and even naive. And so it is with malnutrition; a multidisciplinary approach to a multifaeeted problem will doubtless be necessary for the ultimate achievement of optimal health in developing countries. Furthermore, regional differences will make some flexibility necessary in programs aimed at lessening malnutrition in various areas. Since all of the factors involved in bringing about an increase in both quantity and quality as well as better storage and distribution of food supplies are complex, it is also true that we need more research-research into the techniques, and logistics of bringing about agricultural and social change. On the other hand, this ought not to stop us from attempting action now, even though such action be on only a limited facet of the malnutrition problem and so long as we do not delude ourselves into thinking that such action is a

Accomplishments in Cereal Fortification

Accomplishments in Cereal Fortification R. C. Sherwood CopyRight*Presented before the Food and Nutrition Section of the American Public Health Association at the Seventy-first Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Mo., October 27, 1942. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.33.5.526 Published Online: August 29, 2011

The Retention of Calcium and Phosphorus by Pre-School Children: One Figure

A comparison has been made between milk and a fortified cereal as sources of calcium and phosphorus for pre-school children. The subjects were four girls and six boys ranging in age from 3 to 6 years. To rule out possible variations which might be due to changes in age, weather and season, the children were divided into two groups each consisting of two girls and three boys and the sequence of diet periods was reversed. An adequate basal diet was used. To eliminate effects of previous calcium depletion, if any, extra calcium for saturation was fed in the form of lactate or the phosphate mixture used for fortification of the cereal. Final analysis shows that there is no significant difference between the retentions of calcium and phosphorus regardless of the salt used. With the same basal diet the retention of calcium and phosphorus was determined when 200 mg. of milk calcium was replaced by 200 mg. of calcium in the fortified cereal. In one period the storage of calcium and phosphorus was significantly better when these two elements were supplied in part by the fortified cereal rather than by milk, while in a second period of comparison the availability of calcium and phosphorus as measured by retention was the same. The children were in positive calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen balance throughout the study and more phosphorus was stored than was required to convert retained calcium into bone. The averages of the results obtained for two groups of children over a period of 6 months were in close agreement. The daily storage of calcium was between 11 and 12 mg. and of phosphorus between 7 and 8 mg. per kilogram body weight. About 19% of the calcium and 11% of the phosphorus were retained. All children grew at rates better than those given as normal by the Iowa Child Research Station. For maximal retention of calcium it was necessary to have a daily intake of over 700 mg. of calcium. When a part of the milk calcium of an adequate diet was replaced by an equivalent amount supplied by tri-calcium phosphate in a fortified cereal, utilization as measured by retention was equally good from milk and cereal.