Food fortification is an invisible intervention — both literally and often in the way it is viewed by the public and both national and global decision-makers.
Nutrition goes well beyond the image of the desperate malnourished child to micronutrient deficiencies that can have a variety health and developmental impacts. Tackling them requires food fortification, but as an invisible intervention it can be hard to get the attention necessary.
But there are several key steps that can be taken to help elevate the profile of food fortification and help better address micronutrient deficiencies, Shawn Baker, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s director of nutrition, said in an interview at the 2015 European Development Days event earlier this month. The Gates Foundation pledged $776 million to tackle malnutrition at the event and has recently been working to catalyze action around the issue.