Fortify Health signs partnership with key equipment vendor, Shayona Industries

Fortify Health has signed a partnership with Shayona Industries, a key equipment vendor. Shayona Industries will provide Fortify Health with critical equipment to support large-scale, cost effective fortification of wheat flour in India. 

To fortify wheat flour (or chakki atta), millers add key micronutrients into wheat flour before packaging. Fortify Health supports our mill partners to add iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 to their wheat flour. There is a wealth of evidence that fortifying wheat flour with these micronutrients can have a meaningful impact on reducing and preventing iron deficiency anaemia.

What equipment do mills need to fortify wheat flour?
Millers use a piece of equipment called a microdoser to add the micronutrients (or premix) to their flour. The microdoser provides a continual and consistent supply of diluted premix into the flow of wheat flour. Fortify Health provides its mill partners with microdosers without charge and also trains staff at each mill to calibrate their microsoders, taking into account the unique characteristics of each mill. Shayona Industries will supply microdosers to Fortify Health’s mill partners under the newly signed partnership. 

Microdosers are critical to the fortification process; they must be manufactured according to strict requirements to ensure that they release the appropriate amount of premix into the wheat flour being fortified. The appropriate amount of premix must be added to the flour because the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India prescribes a strict range for the amount of micronutrients to be added to fortified wheat flour. In addition, fortified flour will only be safe and effective for beneficiaries if it is fortified with an appropriate amount of premix.

About Shayona Industries
Fortify Health went through an exhaustive, open tender process to identify the most appropriate vendor to support its intervention. We are happy to say that Shayona passed all technical tests with flying colours and was highly cost-effective in its proposals. We look forward to a long-term partnership with Shayona Industries, who are a three-generation, family owned business based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. 

Looking forward
In future, Fortify Health plans to undertake experiments to pilot innovative technologies to increase the cost-effectiveness and functionality of microdosers. Stay tuned for more exciting updates on this front!