Providing actionable food fortification data

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the GFDx, an analysis and visualization tool for data on food fortification. Food fortification adds essential vitamins and minerals, called micronutrients, to commonly consumed foods to prevent nutritional deficiencies. We call these commonly consumed foods that can be fortified food vehicles because they “deliver” nutrients.

Food fortification is one of the most scalable, sustainable and cost-effective interventions to combat micronutrient malnutrition.

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies affect people globally – impacting their health and limiting their ability to contribute to the economic well-being of their communities and countries.

Designed for, and by the fortification community, the GFDx provides all the data necessary to track global progress on food fortification, and to enable decision makers to use data to improve the quality of national fortification programs.

Maps & Charts

The GFDx aggregates and visualizes data on five commonly fortified foods: maize flour, oil, rice, salt, and wheat flour. The GFDx includes indicators on food fortification legislation from 1940 to present, fortification standards, and food availability and intake, legislation scope, proportion of foods industrially processed, availability of regulatory monitoring protocols, fortification quality, and population coverage for 196 countries. Within the GFDx site, you are able to generate custom maps, charts, tables, and plots or download data for offline analysis. The GFDx will be continuously updated as new data and information become available.

Get in touch to share your experience with the GFDx, contribute your data, or learn how to get involved. Sign up to receive updates as new data and features are added.

Suggested Citation: Global Fortification Data Exchange. Accessed dd/mm/yyyy. [http://www.fortificationdata.org.]

Country Fortification Dashboard

Country Fortification Dashboard

Summary of food fortification data by country

Legislation Status

Map: Fortification Legislation

Map of legal status of food fortification by country (Use this map to identify which countries have mandatory and voluntary legislation for the fortification of maize flour, oil, rice, salt, and/or wheat flour)

Chart: Year When Food Fortification Mandated

Chart of the number of countries with mandatory food fortification over time (Use this chart to identify when a country first passed mandatory fortification of maize flour, oil, salt, rice, and/or wheat flour)

Plot: Fortification Legislation Scope in Countries with Mandatory Fortification

Plot displaying the scope of fortification legislation, which includes information on whether all food vehicle types or a subset are required to be fortified and whether mandatory legislation requires food vehicles of different origins/destinations and intended uses to be fortified

Fortification Standards

Map: Number of Food Vehicles with Standards

Map counting the number of food vehicles with fortification standards by country (Use this map to identify by country how many of the following foods have mandatory or voluntary standards: maize flour, oil, salt, rice, and/or wheat flour)

Map: Nutrient Levels in Fortification Standards [mid-range or average]

Map displaying the amount of each nutrient required in food vehicles by country (Use this map to identify by country nutrient levels required in mandatory or voluntary standards for maize flour, oil, salt, rice, or wheat flour)

Map: Count of Nutrients in Standards

Map counting the number of nutrients required in food vehicles by country (Use this map to identify by country how many nutrients are required in mandatory or voluntary standards for maize flour, oil, salt, rice, and/or wheat flour)

Food Intake & Availability

Map: Food Intake and Availability

Chart: Total Food Availability

Chart showing total annual food supply available for human consumption by country (Use this chart to identify total annual food availability of maize flour, oil, salt, rice, or wheat flour in a country)

Industrially Processed Food

Chart: Quantity and Proportion of Industrially Processed Food Vehicles

Chart showing the total quantity and proportion of each food vehicle that is industrially processed by country

Chart: Quantity and Proportion of Industrially Processed Foods by Year

Chart displaying the total quantity and proportion of each industrially processed food vehicle in a country by year

MONITORING PROTOCOLS & FORTIFICATION QUALITY / COMPLIANCE

Plot: Presence of Regulatory Monitoring Protocols for External and Import Monitoring

Plot displaying the availability of a protocol to monitor fortification quality of a food vehicle by country at point of production (external) and/or point of import (import)

Map: Quantity and Proportion of Food Vehicle that is Fortified

Map of the total quantity and proportion of a food vehicle that is fortified

POPULATION COVERAGE

Chart: Context for Fortified Food Vehicle Coverage in the Population

Chart of the proportion of a country’s population reported to consume a fortified food vehicle, compared to the population consuming that food (fortified or not), compared to the entire population

Chart: Population Coverage of Fortified Food Vehicle in Countries with Mandatory Fortification

Chart of the proportion of a country’s population with access to the fortified food vehicle

Map: Population Coverage of Fortified Food Vehicle in Countries with Mandatory or Voluntary Fortification

Map of the proportion of a country’s population with access to the fortified food vehicle

Full GFDx Datasets

Click here to download a copy of the data dictionary which includes indicator definitions and data inclusion criteria.

All data (row-based format)

Annual Fortification Data (column-based format)

Legislation Scope and Monitoring Protocols (column-based format)

Legislation Status and Fortification Standards (column-based format)

ABOUT THE GFDx

The Global Fortification Data Exchange (GFDx) is an online tool, which provides unparalleled access to critical data on food fortification, all in one place, as well as tools to aid in analysis and visualization.

The GFDx was designed to empower governments, donors, implementing agencies, and other members of the global health and development community to reach populations affected by vitamin and mineral deficiencies with data-driven policy and programs. The GFDx aggregates and visualizes data to inform the planning, resourcing, implementation, and evaluation of food fortification programs. This tool was designed to make existing global datasets open, discoverable and understandable and to enable decision makers to answer critical questions like:

Photo Credit: GAIN

Photo Credit: GAIN

How many and which countries require the mandatory fortification of maize flour, oil, rice, salt, or wheat flour?
In countries with legislation standards, what nutrients are required to be included in fortified foods?
How much maize flour, oil, rice, salt, or wheat flour is available or consumed in a given country?
What proportion of maize flour, oil, rice, salt, or wheat flour is industrially processed and hence able to be fortified?
How much of the food consumed in a given country is fortified at levels that meet the country’s standards?
What proportion of a country’s population is consuming fortified maize flour, oil, rice, salt, or wheat flour?

All of the data in the GFDx come from countries and national programs. Some had already been compiled globally, but in independently managed, separate databases for each food. Other important food fortification data only exist in national databases. Consolidating available data for all five foods allows national decision-makers to more holistically view their fortification programs, identify gaps, and make comparisons across foods and between countries. Importantly, compiling national and global data and consolidating data sets across standardized indicators reflects the need for a collaborative and crosscutting partnership in fortification in order to improve diets globally.

Designed by the fortification community, the GFDx relies on the cooperation of both providers and users of data to help reach our aspiration for an improved data landscape in food fortification.

The GFDx is brought to you by FFI, GAIN, IGN and the Micronutrient Forum.

Developed as a joint effort by the Food Fortification Initiative (FFI), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Iodine Global Network (IGN), and Micronutrient Forum, the GFDx represents a significant step forward in the effort to improve the availability, stewardship and presentation of fortification data. From non-profit organizations to government to private industry, a broad range of actors must come together for fortification programs to be successful. As more countries begin to adopt food fortification programs, these stakeholders raised a call for better data accessibility to inform policy and identify populations in need, formalized in the 2015 Arusha Statement on Food Fortification.

We would like to acknowledge the Global Fortification Technical Advisory Group (GF-TAG) for their contributions to the launch of the GFDx, including providing technical input and feedback on the development of core indicators.

SHARE YOUR DATA

Call to Action to Share Your Food Fortification Data

We believe that better data transparency can drive better outcomes by supporting informed programs and effective policy.

We encourage governments, nongovernmental agencies, program implementers, donors, academia, and private sector to commit to greater data transparency and coordination to ensure that food fortification programs are optimally implemented for the populations who need them most. If your government, agency, institution, or company would like to contribute data to the GFDx, we want to hear from you! We will take data contributions on any one or more foods, any one or more countries, and in any language. Please contact us by using the form below.

CONTACT US

Whether you want to share your experience of using the GFDx, contribute data, suggest improvements to the GFDx, or provide any other comments and feedback, please contact us to join the discussion.