Bread and pap in South Africa are enhanced so that they deliver the vitamins and minerals your body needs. That’s the basic premise of large-scale food fortification — adding small amounts of essential nutrients to the staple foods people already eat, so that more children can grow well, more mothers have healthy pregnancies, and fewer families are affected by preventable illnesses.
Food fortification is the act of deliberately adding vitamins and minerals to commonly eaten foods. These are foods like: maize meal, wheat flour and salt. You don’t see or taste the difference, but over time, it helps close nutritional gaps across the whole population. Consumers can’t see or taste the difference, making it an invisible, cost-effective intervention that helps improve health outcomes without requiring consumers to change their diets, buy supplements, or visit clinics.
Why South Africa needs fortification
Hidden hunger is pervasive in South Africa. Many households and individuals get enough calories but not enough micronutrients. Diets heavy on inexpensive starches and ultra-processed foods leave too many people short of iron, vitamin A, zinc and folate. The effects of this show up as anaemia, frequent illness, poorer learning outcomes, pregnancy complications and birth defects such as neural tube defects. In this context, fortification is a practical way to improve diets, especially for low-income households. This does not mean that other interventions are less important. Nutritious foods still need to be more affordable, and broader efforts to reduce malnutrition must continue.
What we currently fortify
In 1995, South Africa made iodisation of salt compulsory. Countries that iodised salt have seen large reductions in goitre and iodine deficiency disorders. Large-scale food fortification in this country was introduced in 2003 for maize meal and wheat bread flour. Together, these staples are meant to carry vitamin A, B-vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6 and folic acid), iron and zinc.
What fortification can achieve
When implemented well, fortification is among the best ways to ensure public health. Nations that added folic acid to staples have cut neural tube defects by 25–50%. Every R1 invested in fortification can return many times that in improved health, learning and productivity. In South Africa, the intended benefits include fewer vitamin A deficiencies and less childhood anaemia, improved immune function and child growth, improved maternal health, and lower public-sector healthcare costs.
How fortification works in practice
- Manufacturers add a measured premix of vitamins and minerals during milling or blending. Calibrated equipment and routine testing keep doses within required ranges.
- By choosing staples widely eaten across income groups and regions (maize meal, bread flour, salt), fortification reaches millions, every day.
- Regulators, accredited labs and in-house controls must verify that products meet the standard before and after they reach shelves. This is the weak link that must be strengthened.
The gap between regulation and practice
Since South Africa’s mandatory fortification regulations came into effect in 2003, independent studies have found that too many products are not adequately fortified:
- A 2011 household study across four provinces (published in 2015) found only 10% of maize meal samples met the minimum for vitamin A, iron and zinc; bread did better for iron and zinc, but vitamin A was still too low. Results varied widely between brands and provinces. This is a sign of weak quality control.
- A 2015 Fortification Assessment Coverage Tool (FACT) survey in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape (published in 2017) again found low compliance. In Gauteng, 22% of wheat bread and 11% of maize meal samples met the standard; in the Eastern Cape, it was 24% and 17%, respectively.
Monitoring and enforcement systems are fragmented; laboratories and inspectors are overstretched; and consumers have little insight into whether what they buy actually meets the standard. Consequently, the regulation’s intended impact is reduced and the population-level impact is not where it should be.
What needs to change
There are some things that need to change for fortification to be implemented effectively and the effects to be felt widely.
- Monitoring, enforcement and inspection must be improved.
- There must be consistent, well-resourced quality control from micronutrient premix procurement to factory dosing to retail shelves.
- Transparent compliance data must be published so the public can trust the label.
- Government must finalise and implement updated fortification regulations. Draft amendments (published in 2016) would strengthen the programme by introducing more bioavailable iron, increasing zinc, adding vitamin B12, and extending fortification to cake flour.
- Improved public awareness to help consumers understand why “fortified” matters, what the logo means, and how fortification fits alongside better food choices, maternal nutrition and social support.
What consumers can do
Look for the “fortified” logo when buying maize meal and bread flour. It’s the cue that the product should meet the national standard. Regulatory compliance still needs to improve, but choosing fortified products increases demand for doing it right.
Pair fortified staples with simple, nutrient-dense add-ons when possible, like beans, lentils, eggs, leafy greens and amasi.
