Background
Micronutrient malnutrition has many adverse effects on human health and it is estimated to account for over 7% of the global incidence of disease.
The most common forms of micronutrient malnutrition are deficiencies in:
- Iron – over 1.6 billion people globally are anaemic, mainly due to iron deficiency
- Iodine – over 1.9 billion of the world’s population has inadequate dietary iodine intake
- Vitamin A – occurring in around 190 million pre-school aged children and responsible for 350’000 children becoming blind every year
- Zinc – 20% of the world’s population is at risk of zinc deficiency
At the Copenhagen Consensus in 2008 (www.copenhagenconsensus.com) a panel of 8 renowned economists, including 5 Nobel laureates, asked the hypothetical question: if we had $75 billion to spend on the most promising solutions to the biggest challenges facing the world today, how would we best spend it? The panel ranked micronutrient supplementation for children, in particular vitamin A and zinc, as the top priority. In third place was fortification of food with iron and iodine.
In terms of addressing micronutrient malnutrition three main approaches have been identified:
- Ensuring global access to a balanced diet adequate in every nutrient; this is the ultimate long-term goal but is difficult to achieve in many regions
- Pharmaceutical supplementation – for example vitamin tablets or injections – for short-term urgent treatment
- Fortification – a longer term, large-scale solution. Food fortification has the dual advantage of being able to deliver nutrients to large segments of the population without requiring radical changes in food consumption patterns
Nestlé - Micronutrient Fortification as part of the Nutrition, Health and Wellness approach
Nestlé’s Nutrition, Health and Wellness strategy has evolved over 140 years and its continued expansion is based on the company’s assessment that increasing nutritional awareness and the desire for improved health and wellness from food will increasingly drive consumer choice. With the world’s largest private nutrition and food research capability, Nestlé will continue to create nutritional value and health benefits across its product range.
Through its Popularly Positioned Products (PPP) strategy Nestlé aims to offer tasty, affordable foods and beverages of high nutritional quality to meet the needs of emerging consumers.
Nestlé is building on its micronutrient fortification efforts in order to most efficiently target the known micronutrient deficiencies across the globe. Working with local health and regulatory experts, Nestlé is analysing local nutrition landscapes – the nutritional status, nutrient intakes and dietary habits of different populations.
The company is then in a position to add low-cost micronutrients to its PPP products to help address the most prevalent deficiencies with affordably priced products.
Product Examples
Milk:
Nestlé fortifies dairy products with micronutrients targeting local nutritional needs. Nestlé has launched a number of powdered, affordable milks fortified with iron, vitamin A, or zinc, as well as other micronutrients according to local needs. These milks include Nido Essentia in Central and West Africa; Ideal in Brazil and Nespray in Malaysia.
By the end of 2010, these affordable milks will reach millions of consumers in over 70 countries world-wide, especially in developing countries.
Maggi cubes:
To help combat iodine deficiency, which causes serious impairment to children’s mental and physical development in developing countries, Nestlé’s Maggi bouillon cube is manufactured using iodine-fortified salt.
In 2008 Nestlé sold over 100,000 tonnes of iodine-enriched bouillon, making it the world’s largest food carrier of iodine. This included 19 billion Maggi cubes and tablets sold across Central and West Africa, where iodine deficiencies are highly prevalent.
Further information:
International organisations working to eliminate micronutrient malnutrition: