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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.
