Gujarat Food Fortification Summit 12 April 2019 | Hyatt Regency, Ahmedabad

CONTENTS

1. Background

2. Objectives

3. Participants

4. Sessions at the Summit

5. Recommendations

6. Some moments

7. Annexures

BACKGROUND

Nutrition and national development are closely related and are interdependent. Good

nutrition is crucial to prevent undernutrition, including micronutrient malnutrition which if

unaddressed, may lead to irreversible cumulative growth and development deficits that

compromise maternal and child health and survival, achievement of optimal learning

outcomes in education, etc. However, despite significant reduction in income poverty in

recent years, undernutrition, including micronutrient malnutrition, remains widespread in

India.

The selected nutrition and health indicators from the fourth round of National Family

Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4), show a very dismal picture. Various states have very

high levels of malnutrition, including micronutrient malnutrition. For Gujarat also, despite

its many nutrition and health indicators being better than the national average, multiple

micronutrient deficiencies are high. Vitamin A and D deficiencies and anemia, continue

to be significant public health problems, resulting in a devastating impact on the health

and the productivity of the population due to high morbidity in children and mothers, poor

child development, low educational achievement of children, and decreased earnings and

low economic growth at the state level.

Global experience has shown that more than a single approach, a combination of several

strategies is required to significantly reduce such micronutrient deficiencies. Hence, food

fortification in addition to dietary diversification, is considered as a good public health

policy / strategy to provide micronutrients to reduce dietary deficiencies across population

groups.

Gujarat is a progressive state, hence a positive push on food and nutrition-related

interventions, can help to bring about a quick turnover. Considering this and in line with

our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi Ji’s call to create ‘Swasth Bharat’ by

providing “safe, wholesome and hygienic food”, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition

(GAIN), Vatsalya and Karnataka Health Promotion trust (KHPT) in partnership with Food

and Drug Control Administration (FDCA), Govt. of Gujarat; organized the Gujarat Food

Fortification Summit, on 12 April 2019 at the Hyatt Regency, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad.

The theme of the Summit was ‘Dandi se Handi Tak’, commemorating 150 years of

Mahatma Gandhi’s birth. The way Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March led the nation towards

freedom from colonial rule, we hope that with the collaborative efforts of all the

stakeholders, the Gujarat Food Fortification Summit would lead the nation towards

freedom from all forms of malnutrition, by cascading the message of 'Eat Right, Eat

Fortified’, to every corner of the country.

OBJECTIVES

The key objectives of the Summit were to:

• Address the concerns of widespread micronutrient malnutrition in the state of Gujarat.

• Bring together policy makers, scientists, researchers, consumers and various national

and international organizations and UN agencies in the field of nutrition, health and

food technology to discuss how staple food fortification could be scaled-up and

mainstreamed, thus reducing the burden of micronutrient malnutrition,

• Share the experiences of various large-scale food fortification projects led by the

national and state governments and the development sector partners in the area of

staple food fortification, and

• Develop a state and national framework for creating an enabling environment to scale-

up food fortification related initiatives across India.

PARTICIPANTS

The Summit witnessed an enthusiastic

response with about 300 people

participating. Attendees

included senior government officials

from the Departments of Food Safety

and Drug Control, Health & Family

Welfare, Women and Child

Development, Gujarat State Civil

Supplies Corporation, Food Safety and

Standards Authority of India (FSSAI),

etc.; development sector partners,

NGOs / INGOs, academia, technical institutions and consumer organizations. Over 150

food industry representatives from both PAN India players and MSMEs also participated

in the Summit and contributed effectively to the deliberations.

SESSIONS AT THE SUMMIT

Valuable information was shared by all the speakers through their thematic

presentations. A brief of all the sessions is given in the following sections of the report.

INAUGURAL SESSION

Smt. Rita Teaotia, IAS, Chairperson,

FSSAI, Govt. of India, was the Chief

Guest at the Inaugural Session. Other

Hon'ble guests included: Shri V G

Vanzara, Additional Secretary,

Department of Health and Family

Welfare, FDCA, Govt, of Gujarat and

Dr. H G Koshia, Commissioner FDCA,

Govt. of Gujarat, Smt. Dipika Chauhan,

Deputy Commissioner, FDCA and Smt.

Ashi Kohli Kathuria, Senior Nutrition

Specialist, World Bank inaugurated the Summit by lighting the lamp.

Dr. H G Koshia, Commissioner FDCA

Gujarat, welcomed the participants. In his

welcome address, he stated that FDCA

Gujarat commits itself to be the ambassador

of safe and nutritious food. He also stressed

on the importance of collaborative approach

between the industry, government and

development sector partners in ensuring

access to quality assured nutritious

products.

Smt. Deepti Gulati, Head of Programs, GAIN,

while moderating the sessions highlighted the

rampant micronutrient malnutrition across

India. She stated that micronutrient

malnutrition not only impairs the development

of human capital and labor productivity

seriously, it also adversely impacts future

social and economic development. Hence, if

malnutrition is not managed early in life, it will

impact the younger population adversely,

leading it to becoming a demographic liability

instead of India’s demographic dividend.

Shri Tarun Vij, Country Director, GAIN

talked about the need and importance of

food fortification in addition to dietary

diversification, as an effective strategy to

address the rampant micronutrient

malnutrition. He also shared that FSSAI

has created an enabling environment for

food fortification, by gazetting the

standards for staple food fortification,

strengthening the NABL accredited labs

for testing the levels of micronutrients in

fortified foods, training the Food Safety Officers on food fortification in addition to food

safety, and recommending an enabling approach instead of punitive action, if the levels

of fortification are not as per the specifications.

Shri V G Vanjara, Additional Secretary, in

the FDCA Gujarat, while delivering the

enlightening address stated that the

health and well-being of every citizen is

very important, and that adequate food

and good nutrition is the fundamental

right of every citizen. Hence it is

imperative to address the growing

concern around micronutrient

malnutrition from a very young age. He

shared that there are several provisions

provided in the Constitution and that many directives have been issued by different key

National Ministries / Govt. Departments at the State level that promote and support

access to adequate food and good nutrition for all people. He stated that such high levels

of malnutrition, specifically the micronutrient malnutrition were a blot on the society and

the government and industry must get into a public-private partnership and work together

to eradicate hunger as well as malnutrition.

Smt. Rita Teaotia, Chairperson FSSAI, in her

keynote address expressed her concern about

the stagnant levels of malnutrition in the State of

Gujarat, especially because on most of the socio-

economic parameters, Gujarat has been a

leading, well-performing State. Being from the

state of Gujarat herself, she was aware of all the

schemes and programs being

implemented in the State. She

also mentioned about Gujarat

being the first state in the country

that led the fortification of edible

oil and wheat flour. She

requested that if Gujarat is to

lead the narrative on economic

growth, it must focus on

improving the health and nutrition

profile of its people, as good

health and economic

development must go hand-in-

hand. She therefore urged the

government departments and the

industry to take steps that would help translate the directives of the State Govt. into action

so that Gujarat becomes the state that leads the nation on the nutrition and health front

also.

She reiterated that food fortification is one of the scientifically proven strategies to improve

micronutrient malnutrition and had shown remarkable results across the globe in reducing

micronutrient malnutrition. She therefore stressed that it was important to scale-up staple

food fortification across the nation to combat micronutrient malnutrition, i.e. to move from

pilots and evidence gathering to implementation at scale. She also shared all the efforts

of FSSAI in supporting and promoting food fortification by not only defining the standards

but also releasing the +F logo to be put on fortified products. She urged the food industry

to adopt food fortification as a norm and contribute towards the journey of creating a

nutrition secure Gujarat and nutrition secure India. She also requested the development

sector partners to provide the required technical support to the food industry for

fortification. She urged the Govt. of Gujarat to take up the agenda of food fortification to

the state cabinet and adopt it as a state level policy

Smt. Dipika Chauhan, Deputy Commissioner, FDCA

delivered a vote of thanks and re-affirmed the

FDCA’s resolve of working towards encouraging and

facilitating the food industries to adopt voluntary

fortification of staple foods. Looking at the current

nutritional status she urged all her officers to be the

ambassadors of food fortification and healthy diets.

Launching of NetPro.FaN

NetPro.FaN, is a network of food and

nutrition professionals. It has been created

as a platform to facilitate the collaboration

between the nutrition and health

professionals who would work together to

improve the health and nutritional status of

all. The Gujarat Chapter of NetPro.FaN

was also launched at the Summit. Smt.

Ashi Kathuria from the World Bank

introduced the network and stated that the

NetPro.FaN's mandate is to work together with all the partners to create consumer

awareness, conduct research and initiate dialogues over safe and better nutrition. She

mentioned that the network is envisioned to complement government programs and

services and FSSAI’s Eat Right Movement through cross fertilisation of ideas between

different organisations.

Honoring the champions of food fortification

One of the biggest highlights of the Summit was the launch of 20 staple food brands of

fortified oil, milk, wheat flour and salt. The industries manufacturing these brands were

capacitated and trained by the efforts of Global Alliance of Improved Nutrition and other

development sector partners like Vatsalya, KHPT and Nutrition International.

The industry partners who launched their fortified staples, the panelists, guests and

speakers were honored as “Champions of Food Fortification” at the Summit.

TECHNICAL SESSION: STAPLE FOOD FORTIFICATION

The Technical Session on Food Fortification was chaired by Smt. Anjana Patel, Joint

Director, Dept. of Women and Child Development, Govt. of Gujarat and co-chaired by Dr

Bhavesh Modi, Dept. of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Gujarat.

The session began with Dr. C S Pandav, Regional Coordinator, Iodine Global Network

(South Asia) & President, ICCIDD, presenting the success story of universal salt-

iodization. He recounted the experiences and shared the key successes and the lessons

learnt that would be useful for scaling up fortification programs in India. He emphasized

on the importance of adopting the “Panchsheel” partnership approach where different

sectors work together as one unit for a common cause.

Ms. Rohini Saran, Deputy Lead, Food Fortification Resource Center (FFRC) at FSSAI,

presented the success story of food fortification in India, including an overview of the

fortified staples and their availability in the open market. She also shared the information

about the States, where adequately and appropriately fortified staples such as fortified

wheat flour, fortified rice, fortified edible oil and the double fortified salt were

mainstreamed into the various public food safety-net programs.

Dr. R. Sankar, Project Director & Advisor (Nutrition), Tata Trusts and Prof. Sirimavo Nair,

MSU, Baroda, chaired the sessions wherein various development sector partners and the

representatives of staple food industry, shared their successes and challenges in initiating

and scaling up staple food fortification. The development sector partners included GAIN,

UNWFP, Tata Trusts, PATH and NI. Each partner emphasized on the need for industry

sensitization, consumer awareness and policy advocacy. This was followed by sharing of

perspectives on food fortification by the food industry partners representing wheat flour

processors, edible oil processors, milk processors and premix suppliers, operating at the

national and state-level.

The industry partners provided excellent inspirational examples of responsible fortification

initiatives and requested other industry partners to start fortification

CONCLUDING SESSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Summit provided an excellent opportunity to deliberate upon all the issues of

importance through technical presentations and special panel discussions. It also

provided a perspective on how the various stakeholders could partner together and scale-

up food fortification initiatives across Gujarat to address micronutrient malnutrition.

It concluded with succinct presentation of recommendations by Shri Tarun Vij, Country

Director GAIN and a Vote of Thanks by Smt. Dipika Chauhan, Dy Commissioner, FDCA,

Govt. of Gujarat.

The major recommendations of the Summit are:

1. In the presence of evidence available for the need and importance, as well as ease

of technology for staple food fortification, the government should move towards

mandatory staple food fortification, particularly in social protection schemes

2. A lot can be achieved by leveraging the power of alliances backed by

a. Sound scientific research and evidence

b. Ownership by state and central government

c. Private sector engagement

d. Involvement and partnership of International agencies and Civil society

3. Food industry to adopt fortification of staple food products as a “conscious choice”,

and create awareness about the benefits of fortified staple foods amongst all

population groups, leading to a positive 'demand creation',

4. Development partners such as GAIN, Tata Trusts, WFP, NI, PATH to provide

support and build the capacity of the food industry to fortify foods adequately and

appropriately and simultaneously support government in strengthening the systems

for regulatory monitoring

5. Invest into research and development and design efficient and effective technologies

for improving the availability and affordability of safe and nutritious food products

and strengthen the evidence base for proven nutrition interventions for scale-up;

6. Promote food safety and hygiene in addition to promoting nutritious and fortified

products, with a focus on safe drinking water, hand-washing with soap, safe disposal

of waste and food hygiene, and ensure that these are integrated as essential

components in all the targeted nutrition and health programs.

7. Ensure investments in market making / demand creation for fortified foods by way of

consumer education, promoting the fortification logo, thereby nudging the population

to consume fortified staples.

8. To universalize the consumption of fortified staple foods, focus on:

a) achieving scale

b) ensuring quality

c) increasing availability and access through both commercial channels and social

protection schemes

d) Investing resources in cross sectorial partnerships

e) Mainstreaming fortified food consumption at population level

f) Acknowledging that fortified food will not be a replacement for diet diversity and

supplementation, but a complementary strategy

g) Moving fortified food from the voluntary to mandatory policy framework

thoughtfully

h) Quick wins could be mandating Wheat Flour, Edible Oil & DFS in PDS

It concluded with succinct summation of 'Summit Recommendations' by Shri Tarun Vij,

Country Director GAIN, presentation of a 'Vote of Thanks' by Smt. Dipika Chauhan, Dy

Commissioner, FDCA, Govt. of Gujarat, and the release of 'Summit Declaration'.

Based on the Summit recommendations, all the stakeholders joined together to release

the Summit Declaration, which would set the pace for committed action by all the

stakeholders to reduce micronutrient malnutrition, so that we can provide the children of

Gujarat a healthy start to life and improve the food and nutrition security of its people,

which will contribute to building a robust economy.

OUR RESOLVE: Let us move from feeding India to nourishing India!

ANNEXURES

1. List of kit material

• Food Fortification Standards & Corrigendum

• + F logo endorsement procedure

• ICDS and MDM circulars

• List of FSSAI notified premix suppliers

• List of NABL accredited labs

• FSSAI Labelling claims

• Technical manual on Oil and milk fortification

• Technical manual on Wheat flour fortification

• PDS circulars

• Order regarding the restriction on use of heme Iron as a iron source for wheat

flour fortification

• GAIN India Fact sheet

• Reducing micronutrient malnutrition document

• Summit Declaration

2. Agenda

Gujarat Food Fortification Summit

Date: 12 April 2019

Venue: Hotel Hyatt Regency, Ahmedabad

Time Session Speakers

09:00 am-10:00 am Registration and High Tea

INAUGURAL SESSION

Chairperson: Ms. Rita Teaotia, IAS, Chairperson, FSSAI, Govt. of India

Co-Chair: Mr K. K. Dayani, IAS, Principal Secretary, Dept. of Food and Civil Supplies, Govt. of Gujarat

10:00 am-10:10 am Welcome Address

Dr. H.G. Koshia

Commissioner FDCA, Govt. of

Gujarat

10:10 am- 10:20 am Presentation of bouquets and Lighting of Lamp

10:20 am-10:30 am

Enriching Foods Enriching Lives:

Creating an Enabling

Environment including Alliance

Building

Mr. Tarun Vij,

Country Director, GAIN

10.30 am- 10.35 am NetPro.FaN: Its Role in

Supporting the Nutrition Agenda

Ms. Ashi Kohli Kathuria, Sr

Nutrition Specialist, World Bank

10:35 am-10:45 am Special Address: Journey

Towards Improved Food Safety

Dr. V. G. Vanzara

Addl. Secretary, Dept of Health

and Nutrition Security in Gujarat and Family Welfare, FDCA, Govt.

of Gujarat

10:45 am-11:00 am

Enlightening Address:

Mainstreaming Fortified Staples

in the Food Safety Net

Programmes, to Improve the

Health and Nutrition Profile of

People in Gujarat

Mr. K. K. Dayani, IAS

Principal Secretary, Dept. of

Food and Civil Supplies, Govt. of

Gujarat

11:00 am-11.15 am Keynote address

Mrs. Rita Teaotia, IAS,

Chairperson, FSSAI, Govt. of

India

11.15 am-11.25 am Honouring the Guests of Honour, Launch of NetPro.FaN - Gujarat

Chapter and Launch of Fortified Staples

11.25 am-11.30 am Vote of thanks

Mrs. Dipika Chauhan

Dy Commissioner

Food and Drugs Control

Administration Gujarat.

11:30 am-11:50 am TEA BREAK

TECHNICAL SESSION: STAPLE FOOD FORTIFICATION

Chairpersons: Smt. Anjana Patel, Joint Director, Dept. of Women and Child Development,

Govt. of Gujarat

Dr Bhavesh Modi, Dept. of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Gujarat

11:45 am- 12:15 pm

• Journey of Universal Salt

Iodization in India and

lessons learnt

• Food Fortification: The India

Story

• Dr C S Pandav,

Regional Coordinator, Iodine

Global Network (South Asia) &

President, ICCIDD

• Ms. Rohini Saran,

Deputy Lead, FFRC, FSSAI

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm

Sharing experiences in Scaling-

up food fortification by the

Development Sector Partners

• Geographic spread and scale;

• Success story;

• Challenges in scaling-up; and

• Way forward

Q and A Session and

Summation

Moderators: Prof. Sirimavo Nair,

MSU, Baroda and

Panelists:

• GAIN,

• Tata Trusts,

• PATH,

• UNWFP, and

• NI

1.15 pm – 1.30 pm Remarks of the Chairpersons

01:15 pm – 02:00 pm Lunch

TECHNICAL SESSION CONTD…

2:00 pm - 3:45 pm

Process of Staple Food

Fortification: Edible oil, milk and

wheat flour

Panel discussion on sharing

Industry Experience of fortifying

edible oil, milk and wheat flour:

• Type of staple fortified

• Tonnage & Geography

• Challenges & Opportunities

Q and A Session and

Summation

Moderator: Dr Rajan Sankar,

Project Director & Advisor

(Nutrition), Tata Trusts

Panelists:

• Wheat Flour Processors

• Edible Oil Processors

• Milk Processors

• Premix Supplier

VALEDICTORY SESSION

3.45 pm – 4.00 pm Summation of deliberations and

way forward

Mr Tarun Vij, Country Director,

GAIN

4.00 pm – 4.15 pm Release of Summit Declaration

4.15 pm – 4.30 pm Vote of thanks

Mrs. Dipika Chauhan

Dy Commissioner

Food and Drugs Control

Administration Gujarat

4.30 pm High Tea