Efficacy of rice flour fortification in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Rice flour has been proposed as a vehicle fo r iron and zinc fortification in Sri Lanka. Although widely consumed, rice flour has not been previously evaluated as a fortifiedfood. We conducted a mini efficacy trial on fortified rice flour while determining the bioavailability o f iron and zinc from a meal made out o f this flour. We randomized 53 Sri Lankan schoolchildren aged 7-10 yr into 4 * groups who consumed (daily) local dishes made out o f 75 g o f fortified flour in 4 types (1) F eS04 (2) FeSO +NafLDTA (3) F eS04+ZnO and (4) FeSO 4+NaJLDTA+ZnO fo r a period o f four weeks. The fortification levels o f iron and zinc were 60 mg/kg; the rice flour also containedfolate at 2 m g/ kg in each group. NafLD TA was added at 1:1 molar ratio with iron. Forty-eight subjects completed the trial. The mean improvement in hemoglobin was 5.96 g/L (p0.10). A ll groups showed a statistically significant improvement (pd”0.03) in their serum folate status at the end o f the study (overall 6.58 nmol/L). The results demonstrated a benefit in using NaJEDTA to improve both iron and zinc absorption. We conclude that the fortification o f rice flour is feasible, although additional strategies such as dephytinization or an increase in the level o f iron and zinc fortification should be considered to obtain a higher proportion o f the dailyabsorbed iron and zinc contents.