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The impact of voluntary micronutrient fortification of breakfast cereals on nutrient intakes (NHANES 2003–2006)
Author(s) -
Miller Kevin B,
Liska DeAnn,
Almeida Nelson,
Fulgoni Victor
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.1021.15
Subject(s) - fortification , micronutrient , nutrient , dietary reference intake , fortified food , population , environmental health , biofortification , medicine , food fortification , food science , zoology , toxicology , biology , pathology , ecology
Much of the US population fails to achieve the dietary reference intakes (DRI) for key nutrients, including vitamins A, D & calcium. This study evaluated the contribution of micronutrient fortified ready‐to‐eat cereal (RTEC) toward meeting the DRI by modeling the NHANES (2003–2006) data. The NCI method was used to create usual intakes, percentiles, and probabilities of intakes below the DRI for consumers of fortified RTEC and hypothetical unfortified RTEC including only required nutrients. The percentage of children (4–18 years) predicted to fall below the DRI for vitamins A, B6, folate, C, D and E would increase by 27, 11, 15, 7, 19 & 5%, respectively. The percentage of children who would fail to achieve the DRI for calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc would increase by 7, 6, 7, 5 & 13%, respectively. The youngest children consuming fortified RTEC were most likely to meet their DRI compared to adolescents and teenagers as a result of their lower recommendations. Extrapolation of these data to the population indicates that voluntary fortification of RTEC helps millions of American children achieve the DRIs for many nutrients that are key to healthy growth. These data predict that consumption of RTEC without fortification would exacerbate already low nutrient intakes. These findings demonstrate that voluntary nutrient fortification of cereal grain products helps more Americans achieve recommended intakes.