News, Stories, and Events

The Food Fortification Initiative (FFI) and its partners are working to fill large-scale food fortification (LSFF) data gaps and make already-available LSFF data accessible and actionable for decision makers worldwide through two projects supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

On 24 October 2002, a public policy planning forum in Mauritius launched the network that became FFI. To celebrate our 20th birthday in 2022, we honored 20 fortification champions from different sectors and parts of the world.

CSBP, FFI, GAPSBiF, and other partners campaign for World Health Assembly resolution on universal mandatory folic acid fortification to prevent disabilities and deaths in infants worldwide.

Fortification, and millers’ heroic role in fortifying foods, is not new. Starting over a century ago, fortification has a long history of improving health and virtually eliminating diseases like rickets, goiter, pellagra, and beriberi worldwide over the past 100 years.

From 2007-2021, the Smarter Futures program helped make fortification of wheat flour, maize flour, and rice a reality in dozens of countries across Africa.

With a heavy heart, we share that our colleague Anna Verster passed away on 18 June 2021. For nearly 20 years, Anna provided invaluable insight and expertise as Senior Advisor for FFI. A lifelong advocate for food fortification, Anna’s work in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe has literally left an indelible imprint on the lives of millions.

Ahead of the UN Food Systems Summit, UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), and Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit, FFI joined a range of food fortification experts to call on national governments, the private sector and donors to commit to fortification.

Over the span of 18 years, FFI has employed 53 graduate students (including 24 through the Rollins Earn and Learn program), supervised 21 master’s theses and 8 practica and guest lectured for six different Rollins courses. In addition, seven students have co-authored publications and five have co-presented at conferences through FFI’s research program.

Using varied study designs (none of which can confirm causality), a recently published analysis found that after wheat flour fortification was implemented at large scale in countries, many health outcomes were improved.

Half of the countries that fortify maize and wheat flours with iron, zinc and vitamin B12 may need to update their standards to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) current recommendations, according to a recent study published in Food Policy.

To prevent a rise in malnutrition as a result of the pandemic, countries need to maintain food systems and support large-scale interventions like the fortification of staple foods. The frontline of every country’s health system are the immune systems of its people.

A recent study published in Perspectives in Human Nutrition found that Colombian pre-school children who ate foods containing fortified wheat flour such as bread and pasta were less likely to have anemia than those who ate few fortified wheat flour foods.

A recent study published in Nutrients by scientists from the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison has sparked concern among nutrition experts who say the study’s findings are incorrect and misleading.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today unveiled the Food Fortification Initiative (FFI) and its partners’ proposal as one of the highest-scoring proposals, designated as the Top 100, in its 100&Change competition for a single $100 million grant to help solve one of the world's most critical social challenges.

A Cochrane systematic review on the benefits and safety of fortifying wheat or maize flour with folic acid and population health outcomes, led by scientists in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell, found that fortification with folic acid (the synthetic form of folate) may improve folate status and reduce the occurrence of neural tube defects.

The first shipment of fortified, imported rice arrived in Solomon Islands in June. “This will help prevent the adverse effects of nutritional deficiencies such as impaired cognitive development, low immunity, and birth defects of the spine and brain," said the Ministry of Health and Medical Services Permanent Secretary Pauline McNeil.

A table which identifies the levels of 13 vitamin and minerals in 50 foods commonly consumed in Senegal is newly available. The food composition table, in conjunction with Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES), can help estimate the potential nutrient contribution of food fortification programs.

Two-thirds of all countries mandate food fortification, yet many are not translating policy into improved nutrition, according to new data from the Global Fortification Data Exchange (GFDx) in English or in Spanish (en español). These countries are missing an opportunity to improve the health of children and mothers, bolster communities, and boost national economies.

To prevent a rise in malnutrition as a result of the pandemic, countries need to maintain food systems and support large-scale interventions like the fortification of staple foods. The frontline of every country’s health system are the immune systems of its people.

To prevent a rise in malnutrition as a result of the pandemic, countries need to maintain food systems and support large-scale interventions like the fortification of staple foods. The frontline of every country’s health system are the immune systems of its people.

A Cochrane systematic review on the benefits and safety of fortifying wheat or maize flour with folic acid and population health outcomes, led by scientists in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell, found that fortification with folic acid (the synthetic form of folate) may improve folate status and reduce the occurrence of neural tube defects.

The public policy planning forum that launched what became FFI was on 24 October 2002 in Mauritius. To celebrate our 15th birthday in 2017, we honored 15 fortification champions from different sectors and different parts of the world. An influential person who supports fortification is a key to success.

Since its inception in 2002, FFI has partnered in more than 30 countries across the globe to build cereal grain fortification programs.

The preliminary results of the Haryana Demonstration Project are in—and they are a clear indication that fortification can lead to a healthier future in India.

FFI and partners are supporting a proposed World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Assembly resolution introduced by the Government of Colombia that calls on all Member States to institute and strengthen large-scale food fortification (LSFF) programs.

After the success of FFI and partners’ April 2021 workshop for millers, FFI collaborated with MOSIT to host a follow-up workshop for millers on 27 February 2022.

The Malaysia Ministry of Health (MOH) demonstrated renewed dedication in 2022 to scale up and strengthen wheat flour fortification.

Mauritius first began planning its wheat flour fortification program in 2018 and has since made tremendous progress.

In 2022, FFI partnered with the Botswana Government, Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to facilitate Botswana’s development of a national food fortification strategy.

In 2022, FFI was one of four main partners invited to take part in a new USAID initiative: Advancing Food Fortification Opportunities to Reinforce Diets (AFFORD). Funded by USAID as part of Feed the Future, the US Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, USAID AFFORD represents a holistic approach to large-scale food fortification (LSFF) that puts businesses at the core of the solution while strategically engaging with public, private, and civil society sectors.

From 2007-2021, Smarter Futures, the program under which FFI carries out the majority of its work in Africa, helped make fortification of wheat flour, maize flour, and rice a reality in dozens of countries across the continent.

In 2021, FFI led efforts in India to engage multi-sector fortification partners to reconsider the country’s current cereal grain standards and fight misinformation.

On 1 April 2021, FFI and partners held a workshop to refresh millers on their important role in fortification and to connect millers from the private and public sectors with other fortification stakeholders.

FFI conducted a fortification assessment in Uganda in early 2021 to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic had—and continues to—affect food producers and country commitments to fortify.

in 2021, the UK updated legislation to include folic acid in its mandatory wheat flour fortification standards.

Thanks to advocacy efforts by FFI and in-country stakeholders, the Ukrainian Parliament drafted a law for wheat flour fortification in June 2021.

FFI technical experts have been key to building a robust wheat flour and rice fortification program for the Solomon Islands.

In July 2021, New Zealand mandated that all non-organic wheat flour be fortified with folic acid within the next two years.

By partnering with the public sector, private sector, and civil society advocates like Juliana, FFI works to make the addition of vitamins and minerals such as folic acid to flour and rice standard milling practice worldwide.

FFI and UNICEF held a flour fortification workshop for millers on 1 April 2021 to refresh and build miller capacity for fortification in preparation for a launch of the wheat flour fortification project.

In Haryana state, India, COVID-19 did not stop millers from fortifying.

When the pandemic made an in-person mill assessment in Tajikistan impossible, FFI took a virtual approach.

As COVID-19 pressed pause on fortification activities in the region, the Solomon Islands maintained implementation and monitoring of its new rice fortification standard.

Stalled advocacy efforts in the Philippines were reinvigorated with the help of a new partner—Effective Altruism (EA) Philippines.

Wheat flour fortification has been mandatory in Indonesia since 2001. However, due to reports of difficulties procuring fortification premix during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Indonesia suspended mandatory fortification in 2020.

From January to February 2020, FFI, in collaboration with Nutrition International (NI), undertook a scoping study to assess the opportunity for fortifying wheat flour in Bangladesh.

With FFI’s support, the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care and UNICEF-Zimbabwe moved forward with the revision of their fortification strategy.

How do you collect information on millers’ compliance to fortification standards and legislation without regulatory monitoring inspections?

In 2020, FFI and partners rolled out FortifyMIS, an online management information system with the power to improve fortification monitoring across seven provinces in Mozambique.

When the pandemic forced FFI to cancel the in-person Monitoring Challenge Workshop scheduled for May 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa, FFI was quick to think out of the box.

The past year challenged and changed our world—and our work. COVID-19 exacerbated an already pressing crisis of micronutrient deficiencies. But difficult times often inspire innovation and progress, and the past year was filled with FFI and partners’ creative solutions to serious challenges.

Despite challenges posed by the pandemic, Egypt pushed ahead to restart the country’s wheat flour fortification program, on hold since 2014.