MamasHealth.com Home Nutrition Pages Antioxidants Bottled Water Caffeine Calcium Calories Carbohydrates Dangers of raw milk Eat healthy Eat healthy tips Eating light Eat light while out Egg facts Enriched vs fortified Essential fats Fiber Fiber sources Healthy foods Healthy holiday meals Healthy low carb diets Healthful recipes Iron Low carb diets Nutrient absorption Nutrient deficiency Nutrition & hemodialysis Nutrition for athletes Nutrition labels Nutritious shopping Probiotic foods Protein School lunch Soy coffee Supplements Supplements effective? Supplement tips Vegetarian diets Vitamins Water Links Healthful recipes Healthful meals Food distribution Zrii: The great rejuvenator Healthful fruits Must-buy organic fruits Children and hunger Email Mama	Enriched and Fortified Foods Many foods are either enriched or fortified with vitamins and minerals. What Does Enriched Mean? Enriched means that vitamins or minerals have been added to the food. The vitamins and minerals are added to replace the original vitamins and minerals that were lost during the refining process. For example, if the food originally had iron, but the iron was lost during the refining process, the food will be 'enriched' to add the iron back into the food. Consumers often think enriched means 'added vitamins and minerals'. This assumption is incorrect. Enriched merely means to replace what was lost during the refining process. What Does Fortified Mean? Fortified means that vitamins or minerals have been added to the food in addition to the levels that were originally found before the food was refined. When foods are fortified, they will have more vitamins and minerals after they are refined than they did before they are refined. Common fortified foods are: milk (fortified with vitamin D) and salt (fortified with iodine). "Fortified" is often misused by companies who produce cereal and fruit drinks. Cereal boxes will often say 'fortified with essential vitamins and minerals'. The cereal usually contains high amounts of sugar. Adding vitamins and minerals to the cereal gives it more nutritional value, but it doesn't change the high amount of sugar that is present.	Tell me a secret and I'll tell you mine
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