See the attached

#3 Discussion

TOPIC:

"Conclusions: Preschool children in the United States have dietary zinc intakes that exceed the new dietary reference intakes. Zinc intakes increased during the 4 y of the study. The present level of intake does not seem to pose a health problem, but if zinc intake continues to increase because of the greater availability of zinc fortified foods in the US food supply, the amount of zinc consumed by children may become excessive. Am J Clin Nutr2003;78:1011–7."(Zinc Intake link) (Links to an external site.)

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/78/5/1011/4677484?login=true

The quote above is startling.  Fortification of foods, such as breakfast cereals, is meant to enhance the vitamin and mineral content of foods.  Fortification means that vitamins and minerals are added to food items they are not naturally found in.  Cereals are heavily fortified.  Fortification began with the addition of B vitamins to flour based foods.  This led to a dramatic decrease in incidences of pellagra, a niacin deficiency disorder. This is a positive result but the toxicities of zinc, folate and vitamin A are concerning.

What vitamin and mineral fortifications are mandated by the government?  After reading the above quote and looking up information on the topic, what is your opinion on fortification?  Should the government be responsible for the fortification of all foods? Make sure to back up your opinion with facts!