The milk, which you buy off the shelves, is going to be fortified with Vitamin A and D to address the deficiencies among the Indian masses. Milk cooperatives across the country have agreed to the proposal and the standards will soon be notified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The move, which the government says will help combat malnutrition, is part of the plan to fortify major food substances like wheat, rice, edible oil and other food products. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of an inter-ministerial group comprising the ministries of Health, Women and Child Development, Food and Civil Supplies, and Human Resource Development. “The milk cooperatives were given a presentation by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, and now the food ministry is preparing the detailed guidelines,” sources said. The FSSAI will now notify the standards. The proposal was made by a group of secretaries, working on health and education, before the Prime Minister’s Office in the beginning of January. Wheat is to be fortified with iron, rice with iron and vitamin D, milk and edible oils with vitamin A.
The recommendation also talks about double fortification of salt with iodine, as it was felt that the present standards were not enough.