There is a strong economic case for fortifying wheat flour with vitamin D. Dr. Magda Aguiar, University of Birmingham's Institute of Applied Health Research and Wales. Empirical calculations indicate that within the next 90 years there will be 40 million new FDVHVRIYLWDPLQ'LQVX൶FLHQF\LI the government does not counter this with legislation. In 10 million people (25% of the population), this VHULRXV GH¿FLW FRXOG EH SUHYHQWHG quite simply by adding vitamin ' WR ÀRXU 1R FKDQJHV WR WKH GLHW would be necessary. GOVERNMENT MUST REACT In a study published in August 2019 in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, project director Dr. 0DJGD $JXLDU LGHQWL¿HG WKH HFRQRPLF EHQH¿WV RI PDQGDWRU\ ÀRXU enrichment. Without it, she said, WKH%ULWLVK1DWLRQDO+HDOWK6HUYLFH will see additional costs of £65 million ($80 million) in the time period VSHFL¿HGLQWKHVWXG\7KHFRVWVRI www.World-Grain.com / World Grain / May 2020 PDQGDWRU\ÀRXUHQULFKPHQWZRXOG be negligible by comparison, at just 12 pence per person per year. Dr. Aguiar urged lawmakers to act. ³7KHUHLVDVWURQJHFRQRPLFFDVH IRU IRUWLI\LQJ ZKHDW ÀRXU ZLWK YLtamin D," she said. "We hope that UK policymakers will consider a new national policy to fortify foods VXFKDVZKHDWÀRXUZLWKYLWDPLQ' to address this serious health issue. 7KLVZLOOOHDGWRVLJQL¿FDQWEHQH¿WV for the population, particularly the most vulnerable groups." Sven Mattutat is a product manager with Mühlenchemie. He may be contacted at smattutat@muehlenchemie.com. We want to hear from you - Send comments and inquiries to worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of WG articles, e-mail reprints@sosland.com. 27http://www.siwaco.com http://www.ikjrolls.com http://www.kjrolls.com http://www.World-Grain.com