SPECIAL PRODUCT

FORTIFIED RICE

ARPAN AGRO INDUSTRY'S FORTIFIED RICE

India is a leading rice producing country, with 22% of the total global rice production and 65% of India's population consumes rice on a daily basis.

The per capita rice consumption in India is 6.8 kilogram per month. Fortification of rice makes it more nutritious by adding vitamins and minerals, many of which are lost during the milling and polishing process. Rice fortification may be considered as having the highest potential to fill the gap in current staple food fortification programs. As Rice is the staple food of 65 percent of the Indian population and reaches the most vulnerable and poorer section Rice fortification is a cost effective, culturally appropriate strategy to address micronutrient deficiency in country.

FORTIFICATION OF RICE

Fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) in a food, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health.

Rice is cultivated in many parts of the world, as it grows in diverse climates. Industrial fortification of rice with vitamins and minerals has been practised for many years in several countries throughout the world, where rice is a staple consumed regularly in the preparation of many common local dishes.

Micronutrient deficiencies of public health significance are widespread in most countries consuming high levels of rice; thus rice fortification has the potential to help aid vulnerable populations that are currently not reached by wheat or maize flour fortification programmes. However, rice production is often done domestically or locally which could make reaching all those in need with mass fortification programs challenging.

FORTICATION PROCESS

Rice can be fortified by adding a micronutrient powder to the rice that adheres to the grains or spraying of the surface of ordinary rice grains in several layers with a vitamin and mineral mix to form a protective coating. Rice can also be extruded and shaped into partially precooked grain-like structures resembling rice grains, which can then be blended with natural polished rice. Rice kernels can be fortified with several micronutrients, such as iron, folic acid and other B-complex vitamins, vitamin A and zinc.