Which statement best distinguishes fortified from enriched foods?

• A. Fortified foods have added nutrients not normally present; enriched foods have nutrients lost during processing added back to meet a standard
• B. Fortified foods always contain minerals; enriched foods always contain vitamins
• C. Fortified foods are unprocessed; enriched foods are processed
• D. Fortified foods reduce nutrients; enriched foods increase them

Answer: (A)

Fortified foods introduce nutrients that weren’t normally present in the food, expanding its nutrient profile beyond what the food naturally contains. Enriched foods, on the other hand, add back nutrients that were lost during processing to restore them to a standard level. This distinction matters because it explains why certain foods get nutrients they wouldn’t naturally have (fortification) versus why others are boosted to recover their original nutrient content after milling or refining (enrichment).

For example, vitamin D is added to milk to fortify it, since milk doesn’t normally supply vitamin D in significant amounts. Refined grains lose several B vitamins and iron during milling, so they’re enriched to bring those nutrients back to standard levels. The key idea is: fortification adds new nutrients; enrichment restores nutrients that processing removed. The other statements are not accurate because fortification isn’t limited to minerals and isn’t defined by being unprocessed, and enrichment isn’t limited to vitamins alone.