The stability of micronutrients in fortified food stuffs after processing and storage: Iodine in salt and iron in wheat flour

Salt was fortified by potassium iodate in the level 66 mg/kg of salt with wet method of fortification. Then the iodized salt was stored using three packaging materials; low density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE) and woven high density polyethylene (WHDPE) at two conditions: room temperature (20-25°C) and medium RH (50-60%) for about 6 months and accelerated temperature (40°C) and high Relative Humidity (RH) (70-100%) for about 18 days. Generally, the amount of iodine decreased with time (p 0.05). When the amount of iron was evaluated after processing (baking bread), the result was found to be non-significantly different. In addition, the sensory quality scores of the 30 and 40 ppm iron fortified bread were above moderately liked scale and were not different from the bread made from the control.   Key words: Fortification, salt, wheat flour, micronutrients, iron, iodine, storage, relative humidity, temperature, packaging materials, processing, sensory evaluation.