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Projects and activities | 11 June 2019

FolEA – Contribution of cereal-based fermented foods to folate intake in European and African countries

Global Food and Nutrition Security

Brief me

Suboptimal folate intake is common not only in developing countries but also in many industrialized countries. Cereal products contribute markedly to folate intake. Thus, especially in countries where mandatory folic acid fortification is not practised and voluntary fortification is limited, natural folate enhancement of cereal products may significantly improve folate intake. Folate enrichment by fermentation in African and European cereal foods is being studied in this project. The objective is to estimate the bioavailability of the produced folate, and finally, the potential of fermented cereal foods in improving folate intake among target populations.