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Mandatory Rice Fortification with Iron
The lack of evidence and misplaced policy design underlie the government’s push for fortifying staples with iron.
Vandana Prasad writes:
A recent announcement by the union government to mandatorily provide fortified rice in its food security schemes being delivered by anganwadis and the midday meals, with the public distribution system (PDS) to follow suit by 2024, has summarily dismissed the long-standing debate on whether anaemia—a major public health problem—should be tackled by the fortification of staples. Nonetheless, opposition by many, including scientists, nutritionists, and public health experts, has meant a resurgence of this discussion and a need to examine the recent and growing evidence on this issue—most of which should have raised extreme caution before embarking upon such a drastic and largely irreversible course of action.
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