Amid concerns of safety over the consumption of fortified rice and the complaint that the Union Cabinet’s approval for its universal supply was to please certain multinational companies, the Centre on Thursday maintained that fortified rice was an ambitious initiative to combat micronutrient deficiencies. In a statement, the Union Food Ministry said scientific evidence suggested that iron-fortified rice was safe for consumption for everyone.
The Centre said India was following World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and fortification was a globally recognised practice. “Needless to say, scientific evidence supports consumption of fortified rice is safe for all including for individuals suffering with haemoglobinopathies such as Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Anaemia,” it said.
The Food Ministry said fortified rice packaging in India was initially required to carry a health advisory for individuals with Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Anaemia, as per the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2018. “The necessity of this advisory was questioned by a scientific committee, noting that no other country mandates such advisory label on packaging,” It said. A working group of the Ministry assessed the safety of iron-fortified rice for people with hemoglobinopathies and concluded that current evidence did not support any safety concerns for such individuals, the Ministry said.
“The iron intake from fortified rice is minimal compared to the iron absorbed during blood transfusions for Thalassemia patients and [fortified rice] is treated with chelation to manage iron overload. Furthermore, individuals with Sickle Cell Anaemia are unlikely to absorb excess iron due to naturally elevated levels of hepcidin, a hormone that regulates iron absorption,” the Ministry said.
The rice fortification was started in 2019 as a pilot programme and was scaled up in a three-phased manner. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), 520 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of fortified rice is to be procured annually. “There are currently 1,023 fortified rice kernel manufacturers across the country, with an annual production capacity of 111 LMT, which significantly exceeds the 5.20 LMT required for the programme. Additionally, there are 232 premix suppliers with a capacity of 75 LMT per annum, far surpassing the 0.104 LMT needed,” the Centre said.
The government added that the ecosystem for rice fortification in India had expanded significantly. “Of 30,000 operational rice mills, more than 21,000 have installed blending equipment, with a total capacity of 223 LMT of fortified rice per month,” it said.
Published - October 17, 2024 11:15 pm IST
