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Fortified foods: About fortification - Canada.ca
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Fortified foods: About fortification
Vitamins, mineral nutrients and amino acids can be added or increased in foods to restore or improve their nutritional quality. This process is called fortification.
About fortification
Canada’s approach to fortification
On this page
Why foods are fortified
How foods are fortified
Mandatory and voluntary fortification
Why foods are fortified
Health Canada’s fortification policy helps prevent nutrient deficiencies in the population and maintain or improve the nutritional quality of the food supply.
We only permit or require that specific foods be fortified to:
restore the nutrients lost during processing, storage or handling
for example, by adding B vitamins to white flour
ensure that substitute foods are the same nutritionally as the food they are meant to replace
for example, by adding nutrients to simulated meat and poultry products
ensure that
foods for special dietary uses
have the appropriate level of nutrients
for example, by adding nutrients to formulated liquid diets
respond to a public health need where we have identified a risk of deficiency
for example, by adding iodine to salt
Some types of foods may contain added vitamins, mineral nutrients or amino acids for reasons other than fortification purposes. These foods are regulated as
supplemented foods
under the
Supplemented Foods Regulations
.
How foods are fortified
Manufacturers typically fortify foods by directly adding vitamins, mineral nutrients or amino acids. They may also use other methods, such as biofortification or by adding concentrated nutrient sources.
Regardless of the method used, manufacturers must comply with the regulations.
Biofortification
Biofortification is the process of deliberately increasing the vitamin, mineral nutrient or amino acid content of plants or animal products. For example, this is done by:
adjusting animal feed
using genetic engineering or
using ultraviolet (UV) radiation
Ingredients used as concentrated nutrient sources
Some food processing techniques can enhance the natural nutrient content of a food ingredient. This can result in a food ingredient becoming a concentrated nutrient source.
Concentrated nutrient sources can include fruit, vegetable or algae concentrates, extracts or powders. Adding concentrated nutrient sources to foods can be a way of fortifying foods.
Concentrated nutrient sources are considered fortificants when they:
have been processed in a manner that enhances, concentrates or isolates vitamins or mineral nutrients and
provide 5%
daily value (DV)
or more of a given nutrient, for each serving of the food to which they are added. For a given nutrient, this 5% DV threshold applies to the sum of all concentrated nutrient sources added to the food.
Mandatory and voluntary fortification
Fortification is mandatory for some foods. For example, table salt
must
contain iodine.
For other foods, fortification is voluntary. For example, breakfast cereals
may
contain added thiamine, niacin, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, folic acid, magnesium, iron and zinc.
The regulations include a table of the foods that may or must be fortified and the nutrients that may or must be added to them.
Learn more:
List of foods to which vitamins, mineral nutrients and amino acids may or must be added
Page details
Date modified:
2025-09-03
2023-05-11