Legislative frameworks for corn flour and maize meal fortification

Abstract

Corn flour and maize meal fortification can benefit the consumer when the added nutrient contents are in amounts appropriate to address nutrient gaps. Legislative instruments (standards and regulations) are needed to provide guidance to the producers and food control authorities. We reviewed a number of national standards and regulations of fortified corn flour and maize meal and identified constraints; contrary to current belief, the practice of using minimum contents or ranges of nutrients has caused confusion, misinterpretation, and conflict, and should therefore be abandoned. On the basis of the findings, a model of fortification legislation is proposed, in which the additional content and the expected average nutrient content in a final product are recommended as the main parameters for quality control and enforcement. For labeling, the average content, or one adjusted to the expected content of the product at the market, can be applied. Variation in micronutrient contents should still be checked to ensure homogeneity but with adherence to clear procedures of sampling and testing, which should be part of the standards and regulations.

Keywords: corn flour; food fortification; fortification contents; maize meal; micronutrients.