Fortified rice: An opportunity to address

micronutrient deficiencies
Need for fortifying rice in India:

About 65% of India’s population consumes rice as a staple.

Rice is a large source of calories and core component of agriculture and

nutrition in most of India though low in micronutrients.

Milling of rice removes the fat and micronutrient rich bran layers to produce
the commonly consumed starch white rice.

Polishing further removes 75-90% of vit. B1, vit. B6, vit. E and Niacin.

Fortifying rice provides an opportunity to add back the lost micronutrients but
to also add others such as iron, zinc, folic acid, vit. B12 and vit. A.
Rice fortification: understanding a
few key terms
Term
Understanding a few key terms: Definition
Fortificant Selected micronutrient in a particular
form to fortify selected food

Fortificant mix (premix) Blend that contains several fortificants

(vitamins and minerals)

Fortified kernels Rice-shaped kernels, made of rice flour,

fortified with the fortificant mix

Fortified rice Non-fortified rice blended with the

fortified kernels (at 0.5 – 2% ratio;
typically 1%)
The process to fortify rice comprises
two main steps
Fortifying rice: making rice more nutritious by adding essential vitamins and minerals
Fortifying rice is a two-step process:
Low cost high quality production facility (Usher Agro ltd) for producing fortified rice
enabled in India

Milled rice Fortified rice

Rice 2
mill
Broken/head rice Fortified kernels
1

1: Add vitamins and minerals (pre-mix)

2: Blend 0.5-2% ratio
Equipment required for manufacture of
extruded FRK

Rice flour, premix,

additives

Pre-Conditioner

Twin-Screw
Extrusion Barrel
Vertical Mixer

7-Layer
Conveyor Oven
 Fortified rice kernels
Industries capable of
FRK production capacity in India
manufacturing fortified rice
kernels Manufacturer Location Per day
capacity

• Rice Mills
Usher Agro Mathura, UP 1MT
Limited

• Extruded snack manufacturers Daawat Foods Bhopal, MP 2MT

Ltd.

• Pasta manufacturers Christy Foods Namakkal, 3MT

India Pvt. Ltd Tamil Nadu
Equipment required for blending of
rice with FRK
Impact of fortifying rice with different
MN – 15 published papers
No. of studies that
Micronutrient Fortificant forms included the
micronutrients
MFPP (ferric 14 / 1
Iron
pyrophosphate) / FeSO4
Zinc Zinc oxide 1
Folic acid Folic acid 1
Vit B12 Cyanocobalamin 1
Vit A Vit A palmitate 4
Thiamin Thiamin 2
Niacin Niacinamide 0
Vit B6 Pyridoxine hydrochloride 1
Characteristics of 15 published papers
Study populations:

• Philippines, India, Thailand, Nepal, Brazil, Mexico

• School-age children , women of reproductive age, preschoolers, 6-23 mo old children

• Some studies targeted anemic individuals

Important to note:

• First study ‘47-’49, Philippines, coated rice, iron, B1, B3 – focused on beri-beri

• All other studies on extruded rice (hot & cold)

• 13 Efficacy, 2 effectiveness studies

• 10 studies on Fe only, 4 multi-MN, 1 VA only

• School children, one meal per day

Impact of fortifying rice with different MN –
study results
Micronutrient Study details
Iron 14 studies
1 – Pinkaew (2014) – Thailand – 20 mg/meal- increase
Zinc

1 – Thankachan (2012) – India – 75 ug/meal-decrease of

Folic acid
homocysteine
1 – Thankachan (2012) – India – 0.75 ug/meal- increase of
Vit B12
plasma B12
Vit A 4 studies
Salcedo (1950) – Philippines – 0.44 mg/100 g – beri beri
prevalence dropped (14.3 to 1.5%);
Thiamin
Thankachan (2012) – India – 0.38 mg/meal – increase

Niacin 0 studies
Vit B6 1 study, but B6 status not assessed
Studies on iron fortified rice (n=14)
Results:

• Hb improvement / anemia decline – 6/12 studies

• Iron status parameters improved – 6/8 studies

• 2 did not report on Hb or iron status

6 countries mandate fortification of rice
 India summary of evidence on rice
fortification N=4
Type of Research
Research Organization
Efficacy National Institute of
Nutrition, Indian Council of
Medical Research,
Hyderabad, India
Efficacy Division of Nutrition, St.
John’s Research Institute,
St. John’s National
Academy of Health
Sciences, Bangalore, India.
Acceptability, National Institute of
Sensory Nutrition, Indian Council of
Medical Research,
Hyderabad, India
Acceptability, Indian Market Research
Sensory Bureau International
(IMRB), New Delhi, India
Country/ Year Study Objectives
India 2007-2008 To assess the impact of consuming rice
fortified with iron, Ultra Rice, on the iron
status of children in a mid-day meal
program in India.
India 2009-2010 To study the efficacy of rice-based lunch
meals fortified with multiple
micronutrients, including vitamin A,
thiamine, niacin, itamin B-6, vitamin B-12,
folic acid, and zinc, in combination with
high or low concentrations of iron on
anemia, micronutrient status, and the
physical and cognitive performance of
Indian schoolchildren.
India 2006 To test the organoleptic properties of rice
fortified with iron Ultra Rice.
India To gauge the organoleptic acceptance of
2003 Ultra Rice fortified with ferrous sulfate and
the sensitivity of potential target
segments.
Initiatives on introducing fortified
rice through the public sector
schemes in India
Project Project Project Quantity of Number of Implementi
Implementa period beneficiary fortified beneficiarie ng agency
tion type rice s
Geography distributed
Andhra 2008-10 Mid-day 1000MT 60,000 Naandi
Pradesh meal foundation/
scheme (6 - PATH
14 yr. old)
Karnataka/ 450,000/ MDM/ Akshay
Rajasthan 2011 Mid-day 3300 MTs 185,000 Akshay
Patra Foundation with PATH
meal Patra
scheme (6 - Foundation
14 yr. old) /PATH

Orissa 2012-2015 Mid-day 5352 MTs 100,000 WFP

meal
2017-2019 scheme (6 - 1840 MTs/ 61,000
14 yr. old) per annum
Rice Fortification Project in Odisha

Goal: Operationalizing rice fortification Sundargarh

through the platform of the mid-day
meal Jharsuguda
Mayurbhanj

Keonjhar Balasore
Deogarh
Sambalpur

Modality: Fortification of FCI rice at a Bargarh

centralized location and its distribution Sonepur Bhadrak

and consumption in the MDM across

Angul Jajpur
Dhenkanal
Boudh

schools in Gajapati. Nuapada Bolangir Kendrapara

Cuttack
Jagatsingpur
NayagarhKhurda
Kandhamal

Coverage: 99,231 school children across Kalahandi

Puri

1473 schools in Gajapati Nabrangpur

Ganjam

Rayagada
Gajapati

Duration: 1st Dec., 2012- 30th Oct., 2015

Koraput

Malkangiri
 There was an overall
Results: prevalence of decrease in the prevalence
of anemia from 65% to 45%
anemia in Gajapati.

60
55
52
50

40 38
35 36
34 33
31 30
30
26

20
15 16

10

0
Baseline Endline Baseline Endline

Mild Moderate Normal

Gajapati (intervention) Rayagada (control)

Conclusions from rice pilot in
Odisha:
• Use of rice as a vehicle for fortification is technically
effective and operationally feasible in existing government
systems and schemes such as the MDM.

• Rice fortification reinforces, complements and supports

ongoing nutrition improvement programmes such as
supplementation & dietary diversification.
Incremental cost

Increase in cost of rice on account of

fortification= 0.83 INR/kg

Cost expected to further decrease due to

economies of scale.
World Food Programme

Thank you