Effects of the storage time on the folic acid added to ready-to-eat meat products manufactured by irradiation

Expanding Fortification with Folic Acid: Thinking Outside the Cereal-Grain Box

(1) Background: Fortifying maize and wheat flours with folic acid has effectively reduced neural tube defect-affected births. However, maize and wheat flours may not be widely consumed in all countries; further reduction in neural tube defect-affected births could benefit from the identification of alternative food vehicles. We aimed to use dietary intake or apparent consumption data to determine alternative food vehicles for large-scale fortification with folic acid in low-income and lower-middle-income countries (LILMICs) and identify current research related to examining the technological feasibility of fortifying alternative foods with folic acid. (2) Methods: We identified 81 LILMICs, defined by the World Bank's (WB) 2018 income classifications. To identify dietary intake or apparent consumption, we reviewed WB's Microdata Library and Global Health Data Exchange for national surveys from 1997-2018. We reviewed survey reports for dietary intake or apparent consumption data and analyzed survey datasets for population coverage of foods. We defined alternative food vehicles as those that may cover/be consumed by ≥30% of the population or households; cereal grains (maize and wheat flours and rice) were included as an alternative food vehicle if a country did not have existing mandatory fortification legislation. To identify current research on fortification with folic acid in foods other than cereal grains, we conducted a systematic review of published literature and unpublished theses, and screened for foods or food products. (3) Results: We extracted or analyzed data from 18 national surveys and countries. The alternative foods most represented in the surveys were oil (n = 16), sugar (n = 16), and salt (n = 14). The coverage of oil ranged from 33.2 to 95.7%, sugar from 32.2 to 98.4%, and salt from 49.8 to 99.9%. We found 34 eligible studies describing research on alternative foods. The most studied alternative foods for fortification with folic acid were dairy products (n = 10), salt (n = 6), and various fruit juices (n = 5). (4) Conclusions: Because of their high coverage, oil, sugar, and salt emerge as potential alternative foods for large-scale fortification with folic acid. However, except for salt, there are limited or no studies examining the technological feasibility of fortifying these foods with folic acid.

Advances in prepared dish processing using efficient physical fields: A review

Prepared dishes are increasingly popular convenience food that can be eaten directly from hygienic packaging by heating. Physics field (PF) is food processing method built with physical processing technology, which has the characteristics of high efficiency and environmental safety. This review focuses on summarizing the application of PFs in prepared dishes, evaluating and comparing PFs through quality changes during processing and storage of prepared dishes. Currently, improving the quality and extending the shelf life of prepared dishes through thermal and non-thermal processing are the main modes of action of PFs. Most PFs show good potential in handing prepared dishes, but may also react poorly to some prepared dishes. In addition, the difficulty of precise control of processing conditions has led to research mostly at the laboratory stage, but as physical technology continues to break through, more PFs and multi-physical field will be promoted for commercial use in the future. This review contributes to a deeper understanding of the effect of PFs on prepared dishes, and provides theoretical reference and practical basis for future processing research in the development of various enhanced PFs.