Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a decree to introduce iodine, iron, zinc and vitamin A as compulsory elements that need to be contained in Vietnamese food. Decree 09/2016/ND-CP on food fortification released last week and to take effect from March 15 this year regulates that the four micronutrients should meet national technical standards and regulations on food safety.

Salt must be fortified with iodine, iron and zinc must be added to wheat flour, while vegetable oil that contains soybean oil, coconut oil, canola oil or peanut oil is required to have vitamin A – excluding vegetable oil used in industrial food processing, according to the decree.

The programme on integrated nutrition and food security targets the most disadvantaged ethnic minorities and those living in poverty, and seeks to reduce inequity with a goal to improve the nutritional status of more than 36 million women of reproductive age and 7.1 million boys and girls under five in the country.