The rise in fortification interventions since the establishment of the Scaling Up Nutrition and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has been dramatic – and has given the ultra-processed food corporations a big boost.

BBC World Service broadcast a programme today in its series: The Food Chain.  In Fortification: Too Much of a Good Thing?  presenter Emily Thomas did some great  interviews: Nestlé tried to pretend that its fortification claims were not really selling points, that noodles are better than crisps,  that if you add vegetables they are ‘home made’ and that post-market surveillance of impact is too tricky when there are so many products on the market; Lawrence Haddad (CEO of GAIN) claimed many things including that having junk food companies on its Board didn’t really matter because GAIN’s agenda is set  by hundreds of other people, Mark Lawrence,  Public Health Nutritionist,  Deakin University, Australia  and Prof Barrie Margetts, Southampton University gave great summaries of the rise of voluntary fortification – how the onus has shifted to public health bodies to prove harm,  how the risks of fortification – especially on junk foods – might outweigh any benefits and could be displacing wholesome foods.  Gordon Paulson from the Federation of Master Bakers clarified that by law in the UK no nutrition claims are made on bread that is fortified by law  – since all the products are the same.
CLICK HERE to listen. Its really good

You can see a Blog by Lawrence Haddad with half answered questions about why GAIN works so closely with corporations  HERE