Improving micronutrient status of the Sri Lankan population: effect of iron and zinc fortified rice flour

Abstract

In Asia, rice provides more than 70% of the energy in the diet. Rice is the single most important crop occupying 34.0% of the total cultivated area in Sri Lanka. About 1.8 million farm families are engaged in paddy cultivation island-wide, produce 2.7 million tonnes of paddy annually and satisfy around 95.0% of the domestic requirement. As such, rice can be a good candidate for fortification with micronutrients because it is the staple diet of all sectors of the population, consumed almost daily in large amounts in Sri Lanka. This intervention programme describes the feasibility of rice flour fortification to increase the micronutrient intake and thereby to improve growth and status of iron, zinc and folate of Sri Lankan population.