Vitamin A fortification quality is high for packaged and branded edible oil but low for oil sold in unbranded, loose form: Findings from a market assessment in Bangladesh

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

  • Svenja M Jungjohann
  • Ara, Gulshan
  • Catia Pedro
  • Valerie M Friesen
  • Mansura Khanam
  • Tahmeed Ahmed
  • Lynnette M Neufeld
  • Mduduzi N N Mbuya

Although mandatory fortification of oil with vitamin A is efficacious, its effectiveness can be compromised by suboptimal compliance to standards. In this study, we assessed (1) the availability of oil brands across the eight divisions of Bangladesh, (2) fortification quality (the extent to which vitamin A content is aligned with fortification standards) of oil brands and producers and (3) the market volume represented by available edible oil types. We visited different retail outlets in rural and urban market hubs to ascertain available oil brands and bulk oil types and collected samples. We used high-performance liquid chromatography to quantify average vitamin A content and compared them to the national oil fortification standards. Among the 66 packaged brands analyzed, 26 (39%) were not fortified, and 40 (61%) were fortified, with 28 (42%) fortified above the standard vitamin A minimum. Among the 41 bulk oil type composites analyzed, 24 (59%) were not fortified, and 17 (41%) were fortified, with 14 (34%) fortified below and 3 (7%) fortified above the standard minimum. Vitamin A fortification is high for packaged and branded edible oil but low for oil sold in unbranded, loose form. As bulk oil makes up a large proportion of the oil market volume, this means the majority of the oil volume available to the population is either not (25%) or fortified below the standard requirement (39%). Regulatory inspections of producers selling bulk oil should be prioritized to support and incentivize the industry to make all oil traceable and fortified to standard.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer794
TidsskriftNutrients
Vol/bind13
Udgave nummer3
Antal sider13
ISSN2072-6643
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2021
Eksternt udgivetJa

Bibliografisk note

(Ekstern)

Funding Information:
for this research was provided by the Government of the Netherlands to GAIN. Funding for further analysis and preparation of the manuscript for publication was provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The funders played no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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