• The government decided to continue the supply of free fortified rice under the food law and other welfare schemes from July 2024 and up to December 2028.

• The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• The total financial implication to supply free fortified rice will be Rs 17,082 crore, fully funded by the Centre.

• In line with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address on 75th Independence Day on the necessity of Nutritional Security in the country, the supply of fortified rice throughout the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), other welfare schemes, Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS), PM POSHAN in all states and Union Territories was taken up. 

• In April 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decided to implement the rice fortification initiative throughout the country in a phased manner by March 2024.

• All three phases have been successfully completed, and the target of universal coverage of providing fortified rice in all government schemes was achieved by March 2024.

What is fortification?

• Fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient — vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) — in food, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health.

• In other words, it is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as Iron, Iodine, Zinc, Vitamins A & D to staple foods such as rice, wheat, oil, milk and salt to improve their nutritional content.

• In October 2016, FSSAI operationalised the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2016 for fortifying staples namely wheat flour and rice (with Iron, Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid), milk and edible oil (with Vitamins A and D) and double fortified salt (with Iodine and Iron) to reduce the high burden of micronutrient malnutrition in India. 

• The ‘+F’ logo has been notified to identify fortified foods.

• At present, all the major oil producers in the country are voluntarily fortifying at least one brand in their product portfolios.

What is the difference between fortification and biofortification?

• Biofortification is the process by which the nutritional quality of food crops is improved through agronomic practices, conventional plant breeding, or modern biotechnology. Biofortification differs from conventional fortification. Biofortification aims to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than through manual means during processing of the crops.

Importance of rice fortification in India

• Rice fortification is the process of increasing essential micronutrients in rice, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health.

• India is a leading rice producing country and 65 per cent of the country’s population consumes rice on a daily basis. The per capita rice consumption in India is 6.8 kilograms per month.

• Rice is therefore 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 while polishing further removes 75-90 per cent of Vitamin B1, Vitamin B6, Vitamin 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, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin A.

• Food fortification has been used globally as a safe and effective measure to address anaemia and micro-nutrient malnutrition in the vulnerable population. 

A move aimed at reducing micro-nutrient deficiency

• Malnutrition costs India at least Rs 77,000 crore annually in terms of lost productivity, illness and death.

• The country loses about 1 per cent of GDP due to iron deficiency anaemia. 

• According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) conducted between 2019 and 2021, anaemia remains a widespread issue in India, affecting children, women, and men across various age groups and income levels. 

• Besides iron deficiency, other vitamin and mineral deficiencies, such as Vitamin B12 and folic acid, also persist, impacting the overall health and productivity of the population.

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