1. 1 Nutritive Additives  I. Introduction and definitions  Food fortification or enrichment with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients is not a new practice.  Addition of Iodine to table salt to treat goiter started by 1831 while addition of vitamin A to margarine started by 1917.  Many terms related to nutritive additives are available, those include fortification, enrichment, standardization, restoration, nutrification ………… etc. 1

2. 22  II. Nutrient Minerals  Minerals are defined as substances having specific physiological activities, and their availability in food is considered essential to maintain good health.  The daily human needs from some minerals is considered relatively large and exceed 100 mg. An example for this class of minerals is Ca, P, Mg, Na.  Other minerals are being needed in small quantities and less than 1 mg/day; these minerals are called trace elements and include cupper, iodine, molybdenum, selenium, chrome ….etc.

3. 33  III. Vitamins  Vitamins are organic substances which the human body needs in very small quantities and are essential for living cells.  The human body which can not synthesize vitamins in sufficient quantities should be provided with them by food.  It is well established that human body is in need for 12 vitamins.

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5. 55 Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) An old list (1976)

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7.  I V. Enrichment Process  A. Causes behind encouraging of enrichment  1. The new trends towards lowering the calories intake  2. The huge spread of snacking  3.Replacing of high nutritive value traditional food with those of low nutritive value food  4. Reducing barriers in International food trade 7

8. 88  5. Reducing of food borne disease  6. Reducing variation in food composition due to genetic and seasonal factors  7. Food label and the nutritional facts  8. The Dietary supplement and Intelligence Quotient in children

9. V. Stability of Nutritive Additives V. Stability of Nutritive Additives 9

10.  VI. Potential over-dosage of nutritive additives  It is well known that over-dosage of nutritive additives such as vitamins, minerals and sometimes amino acids are not desirable and may cause healthy problems.  Overdoses of vitamins A and D proved to cause toxicity;  Overdoses of some minerals may cause imbalance in the absorption of some nutrients.  Regarding trace elements, overdosing causes toxicity and as was mentioned in the selenium toxicity event.  Regarding trace elements, overdosing causes toxicity and as was mentioned in the selenium toxicity event. 10