Editing Vitamin deficiency (section)

==Prevention==
===Food fortification===
{{See also|Food fortification}}

Food fortification is the process of adding [[micronutrient]]s (essential trace elements and vitamins) to food as a [[public health]] policy which aims to reduce the number of people with dietary deficiencies within a population. [[Staple food]]s of a region can lack particular nutrients due to the soil of the region or from inherent inadequacy of a normal diet. Addition of micronutrients to staples and condiments can prevent large-scale [[deficiency disease]]s in these cases.<ref name=Copenhagen>{{Cite web|url=http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/guide-giving/gtg-micronutrient-fortification-and-biofortification-challenge|title=Micronutrient Fortification and Biofortification Challenge {{!}} Copenhagen Consensus Center|website=www.copenhagenconsensus.com|language=en|access-date=14 June 2017|archive-date=28 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328070329/https://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/guide-giving/gtg-micronutrient-fortification-and-biofortification-challenge|url-status=dead}}</ref>

As defined by the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) and the [[Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations]] (FAO), fortification refers to "the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e., vitamins and minerals in a food irrespective of whether the nutrients were originally in the food before processing or not, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and to provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health", whereas enrichment is defined as "synonymous with fortification and refers to the addition of micronutrients to a food which are lost during processing".<ref name=WHO-FAO>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/guide_food_fortification_micronutrients.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061224150912/http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/guide_food_fortification_micronutrients.pdf |archive-date=24 December 2006 |title= Guidelines on food fortification with micronutrients |vauthors = Allen L, de Benoist B, Dary O, Hurrell R |date=2006 |website=World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref> The Food Fortification Initiative lists all countries in the world that conduct fortification programs,<ref name=WhyFortify>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ffinetwork.org/why_fortify/index.html|publisher=Food Fortification Initiative|title=Why fortify?|date=2017|access-date=3 February 2019|archive-date=4 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404131451/http://www.ffinetwork.org/why_fortify/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and within each country, what nutrients are added to which foods. Vitamin fortification programs exist in one or more countries for folate, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, vitamin A, vitamin B<sub>6</sub>, vitamin B<sub>12</sub>, vitamin D and vitamin E. As of 21 December 2018, 81 countries required food fortification with one or more vitamins.<ref name=Map/> The most commonly fortified vitamin – as used in 62 countries – is folate; the most commonly fortified food is wheat flour.<ref name=Map>{{cite web |url=https://fortificationdata.org/map-number-of-nutrients/ |title=Map: Count of Nutrients In Fortification Standards |website=Global Fortification Data Exchange |access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>

===Genetic engineering===
Starting in 2000, rice was experimentally genetically engineered to produce higher than normal [[beta-carotene]] content, giving it a yellow/orange color. The product is referred to as [[golden rice]] (''Oryza sativa'').<ref name="grp">{{cite web | title=The Golden Rice Project | website=The Golden Rice Project | date=18 July 2018 | url=http://www.goldenrice.org/index.php | access-date=14 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="Federico">{{cite book | last1=Federico | first1=M. L. | last2=Schmidt | first2=M. A. | title=Carotenoids in Nature | chapter=Modern Breeding and Biotechnological Approaches to Enhance Carotenoid Accumulation in Seeds | series=Subcellular Biochemistry | volume=79 | year=2016 | isbn=978-3-319-39124-3 | issn=0306-0225 | pmid=27485229 | doi=10.1007/978-3-319-39126-7_13 | pages=345–358}}</ref> Biofortified [[sweet potato]], maize, and [[cassava]] were other crops introduced to enhance the content of beta-carotene and certain minerals.<ref name="talsma">{{cite journal | last1=Talsma | first1=Elise F | last2=Melse-Boonstra | first2=Alida | last3=Brouwer | first3=Inge D | title=Acceptance and adoption of biofortified crops in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review | journal=Nutrition Reviews | publisher=Oxford University Press (OUP) | volume=75 | issue=10 | date=14 September 2017 | issn=0029-6643 | pmid=29028269 | pmc=5914320 | doi=10.1093/nutrit/nux037 | pages=798–829}}</ref><ref name="mejia">{{cite journal | last1=Mejia | first1=Luis A. | last2=Dary | first2=Omar | last3=Boukerdenna | first3=Hala | s2cid=4834726 | title=Global regulatory framework for production and marketing of crops biofortified with vitamins and minerals | journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences | publisher=Wiley | volume=1390 | issue=1 | date=1 October 2016 | issn=0077-8923 | pmid=27801985 | doi=10.1111/nyas.13275 | pages=47–58| doi-access=free }}</ref>

When eaten, beta-carotene is a [[provitamin]], converted to retinol (vitamin A). The concept is that in areas of the world where vitamin A deficiency is [[endemic|common]], growing and eating this rice would reduce the rates of vitamin A deficiency, particularly its effect on childhood vision problems.<ref name=grp/> As of 2018, fortified golden crops were still in the process of government approvals,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://irri.org/news/media-releases/golden-rice-meets-food-safety-standards-in-three-global-leading-regulatory-agencies|title=International Rice Research Institute – IRRI – Golden Rice meets food safety standards in three global leading regulatory agencies|work=International Rice Research Institute – IRRI|access-date=30 May 2018|language=en-gb}}</ref> and were being assessed for taste and education about their health benefits to improve acceptance and adoption by consumers in impoverished countries.<ref name=talsma/>