A number of measures need to be taken to distribute fortified rice at government schools.
What is Fortified Rice?
Fortified rice is artificially enriched with iron, vitamin B-12 and folic acid.
Fortifying rice involves grinding broken rice into powder, mixing it with nutrients, and then shaping it into rice-like kernels using an extrusion process.
These fortified kernels are then mixed with normal rice in a 1:100 ratio, and distributed for consumption.
What are the benefits?
Fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals.
Fortified rice can provide 30-50% of the recommended dietary allowance of iron that adults need to consume daily, based on average Indian consumption.
Concern
The corporatization of the food system can occur by insisting on processes that demand a centralisation of food supplies.
Since the fortified kernels look and taste the same as normal rice grains, there is also an urgent need for quality control to ensure that consumers are not being cheated.
