Defining Enrichment and Fortification

Enrichment v. Fortication

What does it mean when something is enriched versus fortified?

When reading a food label or packaging, you will likely see phrases like "added vitamin D or DHA or iron". Is the item enriched or fortified?

Enrichment is restoring nutritive value to a product, after it lost nutrients during processing/manufacturing. For example, if thiamin was lost during processing, then it would be added back afterwards to the, now, 'enriched with thiamin' product.

Orange juices are fortified with calcium and vitamin D. Fortification is the process of adding nutritive value [to a product] with nutrients that were not part of the original item. If you made orange juice at home from fresh squeezed oranges, the juice would not contain calcium or vitamin D. In order for the juice to contain either, it would need to be fortified.

Test yourself – Are these products enriched or fortified?

   1. Iodized Salt

       2. Cereal containing Folate

       3. White flour that contains Thiamin, Riboflavin, and Niacin

       4. Vitamin D in orange juice

Answers:

        1. Fortified. Salt does not naturally contain iodine. It is added to help prevent iodine deficiency, which   may lead to thyroid problems such as goiters.

        2. Fortified. Folate is found in green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, liver, kidney, lentils, and beans. It is NOT naturally found in dry cereals, so cereal must be fortified with folate.

        3. Enriched. During processing, the whole grain is stripped of the germ and bran (both of which are rich in B vitamins) to make white flour. In order to replace what was lost during this process, the flour is enriched with the B vitamins.

        4. Fortified. Vitamin D is synthesized primarily by our skin from sunlight and also made in the liver. Egg yolk contains vitamin D. It is commonly added to products such as milk and orange juice.

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