review on requirements for vitamin D fortification in Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Despite the fact that Pakistan is a country situated near equator and has plenty of sunshine, it still has major population deficient in vitamin D3. The majority of food opted by general public is not sufficient source of vitamin D. For the reason vitamin D fortification is a compulsory requirement for healthy living. Developed countries like United Kingdom and Canada have overall improved their population vitamin D status by fortifying foods with vitamin D. For applying a well maintained vitamin D food fortification strategy in Pakistan , it is necessary to review various methods , type of food and their fortification results implemented all over the world. This review investigates all such prospective approaches which could be used for the fortification of foods in Pakistan. Looking at the socio economic status the majority of Pakistani residents, vitamin D fortification of staple foods such as whole grains, flour and rice by spray methods might serve as viable approaches in targeting majority of Pakistani population to ingest and improve their vitamin D status