Why are many cereals fortified with B Vitamins?

Question

I often hear that eating meat gives you all the B vitamins you need, so why are cereals fortified with the stuff ?

It can't be for veggies or vegans, thier population is too small to warrant a general cereal including a supplement specifically for them.

I'm confused and wondering if the nutritional value of meat is not all its cracked up to be if the food industry feel the need to fortify the food.

Answer 1

No it isn't because of meat or anything else it is simply because of health trends in the population and attempts to counterfeit them. While yes red meat is a good source of b vitamins not everyone eats it. Spinach is a great source of iron but not everyone eats it. Thats why when so many people come through hospitals and health clinics lacking in certain vitamins and minerals the necessary steps are taken to reverse the problem.

It is mainly the aount of refined sugar being consumed through processed foods and soft drinks. Refined sugar is stripped away of all its accompanying nutrients to its simplest form which means when it is comes to be processed in your own body due to the adbsence of the other nutrients your body has to draw from its own stockpile to process it.

Answer 2

And if a standard meat eating diet is, like, automatically healthy and balanced, why is all the milk fortified with vitamin D?

Answer 3

Good Question. Since Kellogg was a vegetarian and helped found the cereal industory I believe we have him to thank for the B Vitamins.

Answer 4

Most multivitamins aren't vegetarian either.

Why do they all contain B vitamins?

Hmmmmmmmm?????

Answer 5

Wholegrain cereals are naturally high in B complex vitamins. It is only when they are refined/processed- they sadly lose most of their nutritional value. Brown rice is higher in B vitamins, such as Thiamine (B1), than white rice. People who rely heavily on white rice for each meal can develop deficiency symtoms- deficiency of B1 is called beriberi by the way. Slighlty different case but in Africa, some sugar is fortified with vitamin A to help reduce the rates of blindness.

Some products, by UK law, *must* be fortified to put back the nutrients lost. Folic acid, for example, is a B vitamin that is added to bread. When buying bread it's always better to buy wholemeal- the nutritional value of it is far more than white bread. Manufacturers can *choose* to fortify foods, or the Government makes them (mandatory fortification).

Foods are fortified to help the general population as a whole, not just vegetarians and vegans. Modern diets can be notoriously low in key vitamins and minerals, so the fortification process can be a real help. I studied food fortification at Uni.