According to statistics, about 300 million residents in my country are facing the problem of nutritional imbalance [1]. Nutritional imbalance is one of the factors leading to chronic diseases, and supplementing and balancing dietary nutrition by adding nutritional fortifiers to food is an important means to solve malnutrition and imbalance in my country, which is also recognized internationally. So, what exactly are nutritional supplements? What's the use? In this issue, the registration department of Food Partner Network will take you into the world of "nutrient fortifiers".

1 The development process of food nutrition fortification in my country

In the 1950s, when infant milk replacers were designed, the calcium in the milk powder was fortified by adding bone meal or calcium lactate; in addition, when formulating feeding meals for infants, vitamin A and vitamin A were supplemented by adding cod liver oil. D, which created a precedent for food nutrition fortification in my country [2]. So far, my country has begun to carry out small-scale food fortification, and the source of nutrient fortification is high-content food or drug nutrients.

In the 1980s, some companies began to fortify calcium, iron, lysine, etc. in staple foods such as flour. At the same time, experiments on iron-fortified soy sauce and iodized salt were also carried out. However, during this period, there were no exact quality standards and usage limits for the added nutrients, and the products on the market were also mixed. At the end of 1986, the former Ministry of Health began to promulgate a series of standards and regulations, such as the "Hygienic Standards for the Use of Food Nutrition Fortifiers", to standardize the management of nutrition-related food and nutritional fortifiers, and to make the research and development, production and application of nutritional fortifiers on the right track.

From the end of the 1980s to the present, the output of commercialized nutrients has been greatly increased, and the use and production technology of food nutrition fortifiers have continued to mature.

2 Introduction of nutritional supplements, nutritional supplements and nutritional supplements

Here's another addition: We can also see some nutritional supplements for special groups on the market, such as: complementary food nutritional supplements, nutritional supplements for pregnant women and lactating mothers, etc. The two products are described below.

3 What are the functions of nutritional supplements?

① Make up for the loss of nutrients caused by the normal processing and storage of food. For example, there will be a variety of nutrient losses in wheat milling, and the higher the food processing accuracy and the longer the storage time, the more nutrient losses will be, and the addition of nutritional fortifiers can supplement the loss of nutrients in the intermediate process and maintain the original nutrition of the food. characteristic.

②Improve the health problems of the population caused by insufficient or lack of regional nutrient intake. Due to the different dietary habits, food types and food production and processing methods of people in different regions, it is difficult to include various nutrients in the daily diet, which often leads to a certain degree of nutritional deficiency, which in turn affects human health and even causes nutritional diseases. This situation can be improved to a certain extent by supplementing nutritional fortifiers. For example, adding iodized salt to people in iodine-deficient areas can greatly reduce the incidence of goiter, and using vitamin B1 to prevent vitamin B1 deficiency in people who eat rice as the staple food disease, etc.

③Meet the nutritional needs of different groups of people. People's needs for nutrients often have different needs due to factors such as gender, age, occupation, etc. For example, workers who have been engaged in underwater operations for a long time are prone to lack of vitamins due to special labor environments. By adding corresponding vitamin fortifiers to food meet the needs of the body.

④ Supplement and adjust the content of nutrients and (or) other nutrients in foods for special dietary uses. For example, picky eaters or partial eclipses can easily lead to iron-deficiency anemia, and adding iron-fortified nutrients to infant complementary foods can adjust the dietary structure and reduce the risk of diseases caused by nutritional deficiencies.

4 What are the main types of nutritional supplements?

According to GB 14880-2012 "National Food Safety Standard - Standard for the Use of Food Nutrition Fortifiers" and relevant supplementary announcements of nutritional fortifiers, nutritional fortifiers can be mainly divided into the following categories.

5 Misunderstandings about nutritional fortifiers

Nutritional fortifiers can improve the nutritional structure of food and enhance the nutritional value of food, but nutritional fortifiers should not be abused, otherwise it may destroy the nutritional balance of food, lead to nutritional imbalance in the eating population, and even increase the risk of disease. The human body has a certain range of requirements for nutrients and other nutrients, not the more the better. For example, fat-soluble vitamin A and vitamin E will be stored in fat cells if they are taken too much and cannot be transported with urine. Excretion from the body and continuous ingestion to a certain dose will result in cumulative toxicity. In short, when fortifying food, the type, quantity and carrier food of the added nutrients should be determined according to the existing public nutrition problems, the characteristics of the target population, and the local food consumption habits.

In addition, the public's misunderstanding of nutritional fortifiers is manifested in: some people think that "addition is better than no addition" and blindly accept nutritional fortifiers, while others think that "artificially added is not as good as daily dietary intake" and resists nutritional fortifiers. Therefore, extensive education is still needed to guide consumers to have a correct understanding of nutritional fortifiers, and to promote consumers to scientifically understand the purchase of nutritionally fortified foods.

According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2016", it is recommended that the daily diet should include cereals, potatoes, vegetables and fruits, livestock, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, soybeans and nuts. More than 25 kinds of food can meet the needs of the human body for energy and various nutrients when all kinds of food reach a balanced standard.

However, various situations may occur in real life, such as people who lose weight, vegetarianism, irregular three-meal meals, and work overtime and stay up late. There are certain problems in their nutritional balance, and they need to actively improve their dietary patterns. At this time, they can choose appropriately Nutritionally fortified foods, nutrient supplements, etc., to improve nutritional imbalances and insufficient intake. For pregnant women, nursing mothers, young children, the elderly, etc., due to their special physiological period, they should consult a dietitian, nutritionist or doctor (hospital, health center), and make reasonable nutritional adjustments. The means of conditioning may include adjusting diet, nutritional supplements, and reasonable exercise. Wait. Nutritional supplementation is an auxiliary means of daily diet, but it should not be blinded. It is recommended that people with nutritional problems and special groups should consult a professional nutritionist or doctor, and make adjustments based on scientific judgment. It is the correct and effective way.