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was introduced in testimony concerning farina by Dr. Frank L. Gunderson during the flour hearings and quickly received support of government officials and of other witnesses. It was adopted by the Food and Drug Administration as the most satis- factory descriptive term. The flour enrich- ment standards were issued May 27, 19414 and later amended5 to provide the regula- tions which are now in effect. A sound back- ground based on the experience of medical men, biochemists, and nutritionists was thus provided both for temporary action by the War Food Board and for permanent meas- ures of the Food and Drug Administration. The bread and flour enrichment program was inaugurated by the National Nutrition Conference for Defense, May 1941. By mid-1942 it was estimated that three-fourths of all white bread and family flour had been enriched voluntarily with thiamine, dry milk, niacin, and iron. The use of ribo- flavin, except as supplied by dry milk in much of the loaf bread, was not possible until October 1943, because of inadequate supplies. The principle of restoration rather than that of fortification based on public health needs still has proponents. Neither view has prevailed fully and both are useful for clarification of thinking. The Food and Drug Administration, however, accepts only evidence of health needs as valid and legal- ly defensible. WAR FOOD MEASURES The War Food Administration was tem- porarily made responsible for the handling of food emergencies created by World War II. This agency took prompt action to promote cereal enrichment. Under its au- thority a Food Distribution Order requiring the enrichment of all bread went into effect in January 1943. Flour enrichment was not made mandatory. War Food Order Num- ber 1, issued April 25, 1944, put enrichment of bread on a more formal basis and made it conform more nearly to the Federal Security Agency's* proposed definition of enriched bread published in August 19436. When Food Distribution Order Number 1 was issued, there was no definition of en- riched bread. However, according to pro- posals under discussion, enriched bread was to be made from enriched flour or to have the equivalent ingredients added to the dough during its preparation for bread production. The Food and Drug Adminis- tration considered it unwise to issue tem- porary standards because War Food Standards were the responsibility of the War Food Administration. War Food Order Number 1 was repealed October 18, 1946, before the enriched bread standards were promulgated. Actually, however, by tacit agreement, the proposed standards of the Federal Security Agency were in general faithfully followed. For a full discussion of this matter in the United States, see "Enrichment of Flour and Bread. A History of the Movement"7. The British experience with their corre- sponding problems is recounted in "Breads, White and Brown"8. STATE LEGISLATION Enrichment was promoted by various states, as well as by private enterprise. South Carolina enacted the first enrichment law in 1942. A number of states passed 4 Federal Register 6: 2574-2582 (1941). 'Federal Register 8: 9115-9116 (1943). â¢Federal Register 8: 10780-10788 (1943). 'National Research Council Bulletin 110 (1944) pp. 19-20 and 53-55. ' R. A. McCance and E. M. Widdowson. Pitman Publishing Co. London, 1956. *The Food and Drug Administration operated within the Federal Security Agency, through which official pronouncements were made. The agency is now designated the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
CEREAL ENRICHMENT IN PERSPECTIVE, 1958 This publication follows other closely related documents published by the Food and Nutrition Board.1 It covers pertinent literature from 1950 to the present and in- cludes a brief review of the early history of enrichment. Its primary purpose is to analyze the present situation in order to foster interest in further promotion of enrichment of staple cereal foods. In this publication an effort has been made to use the terms "enriched", "en- richment", etc., only in the strict legal sense of the Food and Drug Administra- tion's standards applying solely to cereal products with specified contents of thia- mine, riboflavin, niacin, and iron. (See Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 1950 et seq.) Addition of vitamin D to milk or A to oleomargarine is not "enrichment", technically speaking, but "fortification." As the practice of such additions to foods extends to other countries, variations of formula are occurring without alteration of fundamental purpose. It is convenient to have an inclusive term to cover all such variations, and "enrichment" has sometimes been used in that broader sense, but the context will make the meaning clear. REVIEW OF EARLY HISTORY OF ENRICHMENT The Council on Foods of the American Medical Association issued a statement March 18, 19392 encouraging "the restora- tive addition of vitamins or minerals or other dietary essentials in such amounts as will raise the content of vitamins or min- erals or other dietary essentials of general purpose foods to recognized high natural levels; with the provision that such addi- tions are to be limited to vitamins or min- erals or other dietary essentials for which a wider distribution is considered by the Council to be in the interest of public health." In August, 1940 the Subcommittee on Medical Nutrition of the National Research Council issued the following statement3: "It is generally agreed that the diet of the civilian population is minimal in its provi- sion of vitamin BI, and in case of war the deleterious effect of an inadequate supply of vitamin B, is likely to manifest itself (unfavorably), especially in men doing heavy labor." Following the discovery of the structure of vitamin BI (thiamine) by Williams et al and its economic production by Merck & Co., Inc. and later by Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., many producers in the milling and baking industries became interested in im- proving the nutritional quality of their products. As early as 1939, 12,000,000 pounds of specialty bread per month was being manufactured with the addition of thiamine and vitamin B complex and non- fat dry milk, producing a very nutritious loaf. The flour hearings of 1940 and bread hearings of August 7, 1941 and April 1943 developed standards for flour and a basis for standards for bread as well. Levels of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, iron, vitamin D, and calcium were proposed, based on the recommendations of Dr. E. M. Nelson of the Federal Food and Drug Administra- tion and endorsed by other prominent nutri- tionists, Drs. Wilder, Sebrell, Jolliffe, and Williams, who testified at the hearings, November 14, 1940. The term "enriched" 1 Facts About Enrichment of Flour and Bread, October 1944. Enrichment of Flour and Bread. A History of the Movement. Bulletin of the National Research Council No. 110. November 1944. Supplement to the Facts About Enrichment of Flour and Bread. March 1946. Bread and Flour Enrichment 1946-47. February 1947. Outlook for Bread and Flour Enrichment. A Review of Events during 1947-48. November 1948. Flour and Bread Enrichment 1949-50. October 1950. "J. Am. Med. Assoc. 113: 681 (1939). ' Minutes of Meeting August 5, 1940.
