Food Fortification InitiativeFFI-hrzn-color

The Food Fortification Initiative advocates for adding vitamins and minerals to industrially milled wheat and maize flour and rice. The network’s members are composed of people in the public, private and civic sectors and who combine their resources and relationships to do more than they could do independently.

FFI’s vision is improving nutrition so that people worldwide are smarter, stronger, and healthier. With improved nutrition, children develop their full mental potential and perform better at school. Adults are more productive, and children are born healthier.

As one of the leading supporters of the Food Fortification Initiative, IAOM has been a prominent player in FFI’s work from the very beginning. In 2003, IAOM’s board of directors approved a resolution in support of FFI agreeing to

  • coordinate the development of fortification learning tools;
  • work with FFI to build a coordinated worldwide support network for milling education programs; and
  • make training resources on flour fortification available through IAOM.

Then, under the Education Committee’s guidance, the FFI Training and Technical Support Group was formed. With the direction provided by IAOM member Dr. Gwirtz, the group identified milling educators around the world and sought their support in identifying those subject areas where training materials could be further developed.

Flour fortification has also taken center stage numerous times at the IAOM Middle East and Africa District conferences, and was a featured topic at IAOM’s 2003 conference in North America. IAOM support is also evident through its leadership of the FFI Training and Technical Support Group.

FFI Executive Management Team

The Executive Management Team selected from the FFI Leaders Group provides suggestions for strategic direction of FFI to Leaders Group, plans Leaders Group meetings and oversee activities of Staff, Communication Group (CG) and Training and Technical Support Group (TTSG).
The Executive Management Team is selected from the FFI Leaders Group. It provides strategic direction to the global work of FFI.

Implement Effectively

FFI does not implement flour, maize and rice fortification programs. Rather it encourages collaboration of in-country partners to make fortification a reality.

Ultimately millers are the ones who implement fortification daily. The process that millers use to add vitamins and minerals to wheat and maize flour for nutritional benefits is the same technical process they use to added ingredients to flour to improve dough handling or increase shelf life. Consequently modern millers are familiar with the equipment and expertise needed for fortification.

For more information on how to implement effectively, please click here.

Global Fortification Data Exchange (GFDX)
The Global Fortification Data Exchange (GFDx) is an online analysis and visualization tool that aims to help policy makers and experts understand data which is necessary to track global progress on food fortification. It informs decision makers about ways to improve the quality of national fortification programs via a user-friendly platform with map customization, charts, tables and data downloads for offline analysis.

The GFDx is continuously updated and includes all available data for 196 countries, showcasing:

  • Aggregate data on five commonly fortified foods: maize flour, oil, rice, salt, and wheat flour.
  • Data visualizations and color-coded world maps.
  • Progress or alignment with related global targets and recommendations.

Designed by the fortification community, the GFDx relies on the cooperation of both providers and users of data to help reach the shared aspiration of an improved data landscape in food fortification. It includes indicators on food fortification legislation from 1940 to present, fortification standards, food availability and intake, legislation scope, proportion of foods industrially processed, availability of regulatory monitoring protocols, fortification quality, and population coverage of staple foods.

The GFDx is made possible thanks to a partnership between the GAIN, the Iodine Global Network, the Food Fortification Initiative, and the Micronutrient Forum, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

For more information visit the GFDx platform in English at forticationdata.org or in Spanish at fortificaciondatos.org