Health Wanted: Food Fortification
HEALTH WANTED, a weekly radio show and podcast produced in partnership with WABE, brings need-to-know public health headlines and breaks down the science behind trending topics.
The Episode
The topic: Food fortification is a simple solution that has played a crucial role in addressing global nutrient deficiencies and preventing life-threatening diseases. On this week’s episode of Health Wanted, host Laurel Bristow and guest Sharon Bustrak, technical advisor for the Food Fortification Initiative, speak about the health benefits of fortified foods and the next steps for addressing micronutrient deficiencies.
The takeaway: Nutrient deficiencies are common in many populations and can result in serious health issues. Food fortification is a highly effective public health strategy for preventing nutrient deficiencies and has significantly decreased instances of neural tube defects, goiters, and other conditions worldwide.
- Fortification refers to the process of adding essential micronutrients to food to address nutrient deficiencies. It is a key public health solution used to prevent certain diseases by improving the nutritional value of popular foods.
- One of the greatest success stories of fortification is that of folic acid. Folic acid fortification, especially in grains, has been crucial in preventing neural tube defects like spina bifida and anencephaly in infants. The U.S. requires folic acid fortification in grain products labeled “enriched,” which has significantly reduced cases of neural tube defects without requiring dietary changes on the part of Americans.
- Fortification has also been used to reduce the prevalence of diseases such as beriberi (through the addition of vitamin B1 in white rice) and goiters (through the addition of iodine in salt). In both cases, the simple act of food fortification has prevented countless cases of disease without making people change their eating habits.
- An estimated 2 billion people have a micronutrient deficiency, which is also referred to as “hidden hunger.” Food fortification is often a simple solution, but there are still challenges with health equity, as not every country or region has access to fortified foods. Even in areas with fortified foods, some people may not consume the foods necessary to prevent micronutrient deficiencies.
The Interview
The guest: Sharon Bustrak
The key takeaways:
- Choosing the types of foods for fortification is essential to ensure people receive the dietary benefits. While enriched grains in the U.S. contain folic acid, corn masa, used to make tortillas or corn chips, was excluded, leaving those with diets based on corn masa without the same benefits as other grain-based diets.
- Convincing producers and millers to add fortification can be challenging because they often underestimate how effective it is in preventing serious health conditions. Food fortification is a preventative method for a variety of diseases and conditions, which means it helps people prevent but not treat adverse health outcomes.
- It is extremely difficult to consume too much folic acid from fortified foods. Many countries require folic acid fortification, and no negative effects have ever been linked to excess consumption from fortified foods.
- While food fortification is an important part of making sure populations are getting necessary nutrients, it is just one aspect of promoting adequate nutrition. Food fortification is not enough on its own to keep people healthy, and eating a balanced diet is still crucial for overall health.
The Listener Questions
Which COVID-19 vaccine should I get?
The Novavax vaccine contains a lab-grown replica of the spike protein of the COVID-19 virus, it’s the structure on the surface of the virus that gives it the name “corona” because it looks like a crown.
These lab-grown spike proteins are formulated into a vaccine that when injected into your body, some of your cells display those spike proteins on their surface and your immune system learns to recognize them as enemy cells and attack them.
mRNA vaccines, like the ones Pfizer and Moderna make, are different. They work by sending your cells instructions on how to make these COVID-19 spike proteins. So instead of your cells taking up premade spikes (which is what happens with Novavax), some of your cells make just the spikes to display, which then, again, trains your immune system to recognize them as enemies and attack.
There’s no strong evidence that one is better or more robust than the other. People have reported having milder reactions to Novavax vaccines, and we always say the “best vaccine is the one you get,” so each type (mRNA and protein subunit) has benefits.
Switching kinds is fine, there’s not super strong evidence that mixing is more beneficial but if there’s one vaccine you like more than another because of the technology it uses or how easy it is to get or whatever, that’s fine. Get the one that makes the most sense for you.
Am I too old for the HPV vaccine?
The sort of blanket recommendation is that HPV vaccines are ideally given to tweens but offered up to age 26 for people who are not fully vaccinated.
Between ages 26 and 45 it’s a “talk to your doctor” situation. This is because HPV is so prevalent in sexually active people. Around 90% of sexually active men and 80% of sexually active women will have it at some point in their lives. Ideally, we want people to get the vaccine before they become sexually active, which usually translates to younger people. There are of course exceptions.
You can get antibodies to a virus in two ways: from a vaccine or from exposure to the virus. With how common HPV is in sexually active people, it’s HIGHLY likely they’ve already been exposed after the age of 26, and getting a vaccine isn’t as useful because they already have antibodies.
It’s important to remember, just because someone may have been exposed to a cancer-causing type of HPV, doesn’t mean they are guaranteed to get cancer.
It really is one of those “talk to your doctor” situations. It’s possible you haven’t been exposed to every kind of HPV that the vaccine protects against, in which case it would still be beneficial, but that depends on your medical history.
Catch all the listener questions and Laurel’s answers on the full episode of Health Wanted by:
- Streaming at wabe.org or the WABE app
- Subscribing on Apple or Spotify
- Watching on WABE's YouTube channel
