Effectiveness of food fortification in the United States: the case of pellagra.
Am J Public Health
; 90(5): 727-38, 2000 May.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-10800421
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
We evaluated the possible role of niacin fortification of the US food supply and other concurrent influences in eliminating the nutritional deficiency disease pellagra.METHODS:
We traced chronological changes in pellagra mortality and morbidity and compared them with the development of federal regulations, state laws, and other national activities pertaining to the fortification of cereal-grain products with niacin and other B vitamins. We also compared these changes with other concurrent changes that would have affected pellagra mortality or morbidity.RESULTS:
The results show the difficulty of evaluating the effectiveness of a single public health initiative such as food fortification without controlled experimental trials. Nonetheless, the results provide support for the belief that food fortification played a significant role in the elimination of pellagra in the United States.CONCLUSIONS:
Food fortification that is designed to restore amounts of nutrients lost through grain milling was an effective tool in preventing pellagra, a classical nutritional deficiency disease, during the 1930s and 1940s, when food availability and variety were considerably less than are currently found in the United States.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Pelagra
/
Alimentos Fortificados
/
Prática de Saúde Pública
/
Política Nutricional
Tipo de estudo:
Evaluation_studies
/
Screening_studies
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Am J Public Health
Ano de publicação:
2000
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos