Medical Science says Fortification may lead to RISKY Nutrient Overdoses?

Fortification Leads to Risky Nutrient Overdoses: Adopt Diet modification, not fortification

By: 

VIJAY SARDANA

PGDM (IIM-A), M.Sc. (Food Tech.) (CFTRI), B.Sc. (Dairy Tech.),

Justice (Harvard), FICA, Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) (ILI)

Ask your doctor this Question: 

Can you overdose on vitamin and mineral supplements?

A: Yes, you can. Vitamins should be taken with care and under medical guidance.

Why health warnings are missing on labels of fortified foods?

When we make law for prescription for fortification, we assume all citizens have same health needs and there cannot be side effect of the excess vitamins on infants, pregnant ladies, lactating mothers, old person, young adult, etc. people may be suffering from some medical complications but unknowing they will be consuming excess vitamin which is not required or prohibited for their health conditions.

Why label warning are missing?

Most of the food industries do not have competent people and systems for ensuring dosage level. 

Even FSSAI laboratories and insectors are not competent to detect adultrated foods and GM foods flooded in the market, then who will protect public health from overdose of vitamins in the name of fortification.

Fortified foods and supplements sometimes make claims that sound too good to be true -- and maybe they are. While getting some vitamins, minerals and nutrients from processed foods and supplements is better than getting none at all, the nutritional quality of such products simply can’t stack up to what whole foods have to offer. Additionally, while most processed products are safe, some do pose health risks that can range from mild to severe.

Less Nutrition

Although supplement and fortified food manufacturers are able to add select vitamins and minerals to products during processing, the end results are not as beneficial for your health as whole foods. 

Supplements cannot duplicate immune-boosting substances like antioxidants and phytonutrients that are found in natural foods and can help protect against conditions like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. (in fact may have advesre effect, as mentioned in my earlier article)

In 2013, a group of physicians from university schools of public health around the country published a review in the “Annals of Internal Medicine” asserting that dietary supplements carry few potential benefits and, in some cases, are more harmful than helpful.

Nutrient Overdoses

In correct amounts, vitamins and minerals are essential to good health. If you get too much of them, however, they can present serious risks. Getting too much vitamin A, for example, reduces bone density and increases the risks of birth defects and liver damage.

Too much vitamin E can raise the risk of haemorrhagic stroke and exceeding recommended amounts of beta carotene is associated with higher overall mortality risk, according to the “Annals of Internal Medicine” review.

Some fortified foods can also contribute to nutrient overdoses, especially because manufacturers are only required to list amounts of nutrients that have designated “daily values."

Health Risks

Fortified foods have no direct association with obesity and overweight, but because they are typically less filling and higher in calories than whole foods, they may encourage you to eat more throughout the day and consequently gain weight over time.

Dietary supplements can have more serious health risks as the companies that make them aren’t mandated to disclose ingredient side effects.

According to “Consumer Reports,” more than 10,000 serious medical incidents or deaths related to dietary supplements were reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2007 and 2012.

The most common severe effects were allergic reactions, fatigue, nausea, and heart, kidney or liver problems.

Medication Complications

Fortified foods and supplements can present specific risks for people who are taking prescription medications that may have harmful interactions with food or supplement ingredients. The vitamins and minerals added to fortified foods can result in incidences including decreased absorption, treatment failure or even increased mortality risk. Supplements can have some of the same effects, and the FDA recommends never taking supplements in combination with prescription drugs without a doctor’s approval.

Getting Your Nutrients

Following a balanced diet can be tricky, but it's the healthiest way to get all of the nutrients you need daily. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPlate icon is one smart guide for planning meals; when you eat, fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables and divide the other half between whole grains and lean protein. If your regular diet does leave you deficient in a particular vitamin, mineral or nutrient, consult your doctor about how best to address the issue before you begin taking a supplement.

Diet modification should be promoted in place of fortification:

The World Bank has estimated that investing in programmes to prevent micronutrient deficiencies is among the most cost-effective of all interventions to improve health (World Bank 1993). Demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of various approaches to improving micronutrient status is extremely important in times of diminishing resources and constrained national budgets. Yet estimating the true costs of various approaches and their benefits in monetary terms is difficult and will vary from country to country. 

Gross and Tilden (1988) suggested that dietary modification was the most cost-effective measure to improve vitamin A status. (not fortification)

Dietary change programmes may be more sustainable at the family and community levels when food sources are locally available and have the advantage of providing other nutrients and dietary factors to improve absorption and utilization of micronutrients (Gopalan 1994). These programmes also do not have to rely for effectiveness on a regular supply of pharmaceuticals (World Bank 1994).

Some recent projects to eliminate micronutrient malnutrition illustrate the costs involved in food-based strategies. The Social Marketing Vitamin A-Rich Foods Project, conducted from 1988 to 1991 in northeast Thailand, promoted the production and consumption of vitamin A-rich food at an estimated cost of US$0.42 per capita (Smitasiri et al. 1993).

In Indonesia, the cost of increasing consumption of dark green leafy vegetables was estimated at US$0.28 per mother/child (Pollard 1989). The per capita costs of food-based strategies are likely to decrease as they are implemented on a larger scale.

One of the largest initiatives to date was the Worldview International Foundation Nutritional Blindness Prevention Programme in Bangladesh, which aimed to increase both production and consumption of carotene-rich foods. It was implemented from 1989 to 1993 in the Gaibandah district (population 1.9 million), where it cost only US$0.13 per capita per year. Compared with nearby control districts, it substantially raised household production of several high-carotene foods and within only three years had a positive impact on the diet of young children (Greiner and Mitra 1995).

The way forward:

We must focus on improving quality of diet and creare mass awareness about diets. Let us not fall in the trap of because fortification will make food expensive, may initiate unneccssry litigations, corruption may get boost and and will lead to overdosage problem for many. Even if we are talking of 1% people in India it means we are talking of adding problem to life of 13 million people without fault of theirs. 

Is this what FSSAI planning for India to please donors those who have affiliation and funded by the shareholders of global pharma companies. 

High time to pause and reflect with caution. Let us learn from Thailand, Bangaldesh and other countries, if we do not have ability to be innovative.

To know medical reports, please read here:

Have Global Cartels penetrated and hijacked FSSAI Decision making process with insiders Support?

Click here: https://sardanavijay.blogspot.com/2018/08/have-cartels-penetrated-and-hijacked.html