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MACARONI PRODUCTS ENRICHMENT The enrichment of macaroni, spaghetti, and other alimentary pastes has been pro- vided for by the issuance of standards26. Since the customary Italian method of cook- ing most of these products in an excess of water leads to substantial loss of the nu- trients, the minimum prescribed levels per pound are higher than those for flour: thia- mine 4 milligrams, riboflavin 1.7 milligrams, niacin 27 milligrams, and iron 13 milligrams. A segment of the alimentary paste indus- try requested the issuance of standards and has been zealous in behalf of enrichment standards and practice; another segment, perhaps of about equal size with respect to volume production, has been rather indif- ferent in the matter. Hence about half the total production is systematically enriched and half is not at the present time. New York State has given some consid- eration to compulsory enrichment of ali- mentary pastes for the benefit of its rela- tively large population of Italian extraction. However, no legislative action has been taken by New York or any other state. RICE ENRICHMENT In Asia In Asia, through the enterprise of Hoff- mann-LaRoche, Inc., the first process for making a premix for rice improvement was devised in Manila, P. I., and later operated there and in Bangkok, Singapore, and Osaka. Rice grains heavily impregnated with thiamine, niacin, and iron were coated with an alcoholic solution including zein, abietic acid, talc, and fatty acids. The coat- ing served the purpose of preventing loss of vitamins during the washing of rice prior to cooking. The premix was designed to be mixed at the rice mill with 199 times its own weight of ordinary white rice; the mixture provided the same levels of thia- mine, niacin, and iron as does enriched flour in the United States. A requirement was that not less than 85 per cent of the nutri- ents be retained after a prescribed washing in cold water. Several years later a second process for making rice premix was devised and placed in commercial production by Merck & Company. This process employed the use of zein and confectioners shellac to achieve a premix having qualities similar to the one already in use. Both processes compete for the market. In all the Philip- pine endeavors27, fortification to U. S. levels with thiamine, niacin, and iron has been practiced, riboflavin being omitted. Never- theless, the Filipinos have continuously and officially referred to the product as "en- riched" rather than "fortified", the connota- tion of the former term being preferred for popular appeal. During the Bataan Experiment, 1947 to 195028, enrichment was subsidized, but as attempts were made in 1950 and 1951 to extend the practice to larger populations in the rice-producing provinces of northern Luzon the retail price of rice had to be advanced about 1 per cent to cover the cost of enrichment. Local ordinances forbade the sale of unenriched white rice but these were poorly enforced. This was also true of a national law adopted in August 1952 under the leadership of Dr. Juan Salcedo, who had conducted the Bataan Experi- ment. There has never been substantial protest by consumers of the advance in retail prices. Rice millers have, however, protested, and this opposition has become well organized since about 1953. The most obvious reason for this opposi- tion is that the non-complying miller has a 'Federal Register 11: 7520 (1946). ' J. Salcedo ct al. Artificial enrichment of white rice as a solution to endemic beriberi. Report of field trials in Bataan. J. Nutrition 42: 501 (1950). 1 Better health through better rice. Williams-Waterman Fund, Research Corporation. New York, 1952. 9
competitive cost advantage of 1 per cent over the complying one. If everyone com- plied there would be no problem, but even a small number of noncompliers can under- mine general compliance. A second basic reason is that, under a law which has been in effect for decades, rice millers, in com- mon with all manufacturers, are supposed to pay a tax of 2 per cent annually on the value of their output. Since there are over 8000 rice millers in the Philippines, of whom at least 7000 are very small operators who keep no books, the law has never been enforced in the rice trade on more than 10 per cent of the output. Under-reporting of output has been universal and customary. If, however, the government supervises the distribution of premix it can readily cal- culate thereby the amount of tax actually due. This now appears to be the heart of the problem, though it was overlooked for several years. The present outlook is un- certain. There is excellent public support for rice enrichment, and well organized protests in its favor have been made by about 50 lead- ing civic, scientific, professional, labor, and women's organizations. It has been pro- posed in new legislation that rebate of a substantial fraction of the rice milling tax be made upon presentation by the miller of receipts for purchase of premix. There are now two strong commercial firms selling premix under government supervision. The way to success seems quite clear if a strong administration will throw its support to the new legislative proposal. As matters stand, little enforcement is now in effect except in the city of Manila, where the Director of Health has insisted that his own inspectors keep the markets under surveillance. Else- where only 5 to 10 per cent of the rice has been enriched at best, and this has declined in recent months. In view of this history in a country where beriberi ranks second only to tuber- culosis as a cause of death, it is obvious that effective cereal enrichment cannot be practiced except with skillful and dedicated government support. There is no hope for it via commercial competition in under- developed countries. The excellent support the milling and baking industries have given to bread and flour enrichment in the United States is impossible in most countries. Rice enrichment is being initiated among the Chinese Nationalist Troops29 in For- mosa. This is regarded as a measure to provide for higher military fitness and not for general civilian adoption in the immedi- ate future, although the latter would be advantageous30. The principal obstacle to civilian use lies in the prevalent methods of cooking rice. One of these involves large volumes of cooking water which is usually discarded, with heavy consequent losses of vitamins if the rice were enriched. Another method involves quiescent steaming of the rice, which, with the types of premixes presently used, leads to heavy yellow stain- ing by riboflavin of the grains of rice which lie adjacent to each premix grain. This renders more obvious the need for a pre- mix having rinse resistance and containing riboflavin that will not cause spots. This offers a real challenge to the premix manu- facturing technician, but some optimistic views are presently entertained. In the application of enrichment for the troops, these difficulties can be overcome by supervision in the military kitchens. The formula prescribed for the troops in For- mosa requires the following quantities of nutrients per kilo of rice: Mg. Thiamine 2 Riboflavin 6 Niacin 30 Iron 20 The higher level of riboflavin prescribed is due to the prominence of riboflavin de- ficiency among the soldiers as well as " C. F. Consolazio et at. Nutrition studies in the Far East II. Biochemical findings before and after enrichment of rice with vitamins. Metabolism 5: 219 (1956). * N. Jolliffe and Ta-Cheng Tung. Nutrition status of the civilian population of Formosa. Metabolism S: 309 (1956) 10
among civilians31. At present the needs of the troops are being cared for by the use of special enrichment wafers which are added to each lot of rice as it is about to be cooked. Premix plants are, however, in process of erection, and it is the intention to enrich in the future by mixing the pre- mix with the rice in proper proportions. In Korea, enrichment of rice for troops proved unnecessary because all the rice they use is undermilled32. Either undermilling or enrichment should be provided for the Korean civilian population. In the United States The average national per capita consump- tion of rice in the United States is too small to be significant with reference to the incidence of nutritional diseases in the entire population. However, southern Louisiana, the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia, and some sections of New York City are exceptional areas where rice consumption rises to 50 to 100 pounds per capita per year. Elsewhere in the nation, one finds isolated families who con- sume rice as one of their main staple foods. Puerto Rico (see page 14) and Hawaii are areas under the American flag where rice consumption is even greater. South Carolina has taken the lead in rice enrichment in the United States by enact- ing a law that took effect July 1, 1956 pro- hibiting the sale of ordinary white rice. The law permits two types of enrichment. Pack- aged rice, which is clean and ready for use, must be labeled conspicuously, "To Retain Vitamins Do Not Rinse Before or Drain After Cooking", and may be enriched with non-rinse-resistant ingredients. Rice sold in bulk must be enriched by means which will give rinse resistance to the enrichment in- gredients and must be conspicuously labeled "Do Not Drain After Cooking". The nutritional improvement of rice in the United States to this date has not usually included riboflavin. The South Carolina law declares riboflavin an optional ingredient. The Food and Drug Adminis- tration has used the word "enriched" in a very definite sense, and standards of iden- tity for enriched bread, corn meal, grits, and other products include four constit- uents. The use of the word in connection with products that do not carry all four of the nutrients prescribed in the standards of identity for bread is not considered advis- able. In view of the widespread use of rice in certain parts of the United States, the Committee on Cereals of the Food and Nutrition Board believed that action by the Food and Drug Administration to estab- lish standards for nutritionally improved rice was desirable. The following resolution was adopted by the Food and Nutrition Board at its meet- ing on October 27, 1956. "The Food and Nutrition Board rec- ognizes that certain segments of the population of the United States consume substantial quantities of milled rice, and that the nutritional improvement of rice would substantially better the nutrient intakes of these people. The Board has endorsed this general principle in May 1949 and May 1952, and hereby reaffirms its position regarding the desirability of nutri- tional improvement of milled rice, and further requests the Food and Drug Admin- istration to consider the early establishment of definitions of identity for nutritionally improved rice." Such action was taken by the Food and Drug Administration by publishing a pro- posal33 which permits enrichment without rinse protection provided the label bears a conspicuous warning against washing be- fore cooking. Riboflavin was proposed as a required ingredient. Methods for enriching rice by non-rinse- resistant means have not been subjected to extensive commercial trial as yet. It has n Herbert Pollack. Nutrition studies in the Far East I. The problem and outline of the test protocol. Metabolisms: 203 (1956) * Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense. Korea: Nutrition survey of the Armed Forces. April 1957. "Federal Register 21: 10412 (1956) 11
