Enriched foods have had nutrients added that were lost during processing. Examples of enriched foods are foods made from enriched white flour, such as bread, pasta, and tortillas. They are enriched with iron, B vitamins such as folic acid and niacin, and other nutrients that the flour lost when it was processed.

Enriched foods usually have lower vitamin and mineral levels than unprocessed foods do, because many more nutrients are lost during processing than are replaced. For example, the fiber that’s stripped from grains when they’re processed into white flour is not usually replaced in enriched white flour. So even enriched white flour contains less fiber and other nutrients than unprocessed brown flour does.

Eating only foods that have been enriched is not likely to ensure that you take in all the nutrients you need on a daily basis. For example, for most females ages 13 to 45 to obtain enough folic acid on a daily basis by consuming only enriched foods, they would need to eat a whole loaf of bread, 4 servings of cereal, 3½ servings of pasta, or 10 servings of rice. Most people will need to take a supplement to augment their nutrient intake with enriched foods. But eating enriched foods is still a better dietary choice than eating foods that have been processed and not enriched at all.

Some foods are enriched because the law requires them to be to ensure better health among the population. Manufacturers voluntarily enrich many other foods. In the United States, the federal government requires that each pound of enriched bread, rolls, or buns contains 1.8 milligrams of thiamin, 1.1 milligrams of riboflavin, 15 milligrams of niacin, 0.43 milligram of folic acid, 12.5 milligrams of iron, and 600 milligrams of calcium. Additionally, some salt must be enriched with iodine.

ADDITIONAL FACTS

  1. There is a difference between enriched foods and fortified foods. Fortified foods have had nutrients added to them in addition to what was lost during processing. Low-fat and fat-free milks are usually fortified with vitamin A, which is not found in unprocessed milk.
  2. Pregnant women should take 400 milligrams of folic acid daily to reduce the risk of birth defects. In addition to using supplements, women who are pregnant should increase their intake of enriched grain products to meet their folic acid needs.