ILSI Focal Point in China: Iron Fortified Soy Sauce

Portion of Soy Sauce in a small bowl

ILSI Focal Point in China organized a national food fortification workshop, of which one of the outcomes was to use soy sauce as the food carrier for iron fortification. As a result, much work has been undertaken in this area:

  • ILSI Japan's Center for Health Promotion funded research projects through Project IDEA, including the selection of iron compounds (NaFeEDTA), human iron absorption study and therapeutic trial in anemic students.
  • ILSI Japan's Center for Health Promotion assisted the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine to get a Micronutrient Initiative (MI) funded large scale population-based effectiveness study.
  • ILSI Japan's Center for Health Promotion assisted the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine to get an expanded application study on using iron fortified soy sauce for the control of iron deficiency and anemia in 6 provinces in China.
  • The Chinese Ministry of Health decided to use iron fortified soy sauce as a national strategy for the prevention and control of iron deficiency and anemia in China and iron fortified soy sauce was included in the WHO food fortification guideline as a major strategy of mass fortification.

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