The Potential of Food Fortification as an Enabler of More Environmentally Sustainable, Nutritionally Adequate Diets

• Published in: Nutrients 2023-05, Vol.15 (11), p.2473
• Main Authors: Grasso, Alessandra C, Besselink, Julia J F, Tyszler, Marcelo, Bruins, Maaike J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution; Alfacalcidol; Animal products; Bread; Calcifediol; Calciferol; Calcium; Cardiovascular disease; Climate change; Diet; Dietary minerals; Emissions; Environmental impact; Environmental sustainability; Fatty acids; Food consumption; Food fortification; Food products; fortification; Greenhouse effect; Greenhouse gases; Iodine; Iron; Legumes; Margarine; Micronutrients; Nutrients; Nutrition; Oils & fats; Omega-3 fatty acids; Optimization; plant alternative; plant protein; plant substitute; plant-based; Plant-based foods; Selenium; Sustainability; sustainable diets; Vitamin A; Vitamin B12; Vitamin D; Vitamins; Womens health
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu15112473

Policies encouraging shifts towards more plant-based diets can lead to shortfalls in micronutrients typically present in animal products (B-vitamins, vitamin D, calcium, iodine, iron, selenium, zinc, and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids). We modelled the effect of fortifying foods with these critical micronutrients, with the aim of achieving nutrition and sustainability goals, using food consumption data from Dutch adults (19-30 years). Three dietary scenarios were optimized for nutritional adequacy and 2030 greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE-2030) targets, respectively, with the fewest deviations from the baseline diet: (i) the current diet (mainly vitamin A- and D-fortified margarine, iodized bread, and some calcium- and vitamin D-fortified dairy alternatives and iron- and vitamin B12-fortified meat alternatives); (ii) all plant-based alternatives fortified with critical micronutrients; and (iii) fortified bread and oils. Optimizing the current diet for nutrition and GHGE-2030 targets reduced animal-to-plant protein ratios from ~65:35, to 33:67 (women) and 20:80 (men), but required major increases in legumes and plant-based alternatives. When fortifying all plant-based alternatives and, subsequently, bread and oil, smaller dietary changes were needed to achieve nutrition and GHGE-2030 targets. Fortifying food products with critical micronutrients, ideally with complementary education on plant-based foods, can facilitate the transition to healthier and more sustainable diets.