About 15 parliamentarians, cutting across party lines, have joined hands for “milk fortification” — adding vitamin A to processed milk.“The fortification of processed milk with vitamin A could be a low-cost and good strategy to combat malnutrition among children,” said Congress MP Sachin Pilot recently. “No doubt, a balanced diet, rich in fruits and minerals, will be an ideal approach to tackle malnutrition among children. But milk fortification could be an effective way towards this endeavour.”Given surveys by National Nutrition Monitoring Board pointing out that about 86 per cent of Indian children between one and five years have less than 50 per cent of the required intake of vitamin A, which is necessary for proper growth, physical fitness and functioning of the immune system, milk fortification could be the right way of providing the right intake of vitamin A to them. The concept of milk fortification is of vital importance as the processed milk, devoid of fats, has lesser quantity of fat-soluble vitamin A, which gets extracted during processing.Pilot, who has introduced a private member’s Bill in the Lok Sabha regarding food fortification, said the legislation should make it mandatory for food processors to ensure the desired level of nutrients in processed food.He said he had even met Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss to impress upon him the importance of food fortification.
