Sensory Trial of Quintuple Fortified Salt—Salt Fortified With Iodine, Iron, Folic Acid, Vitamin B₁₂, and Zinc—Among Consumers in New Delhi, India

Abstract

Background: Micronutrient deficiencies are a cause of significant public health burden and loss of gross domestic product, especially in developing countries. Multiple fortified salt can potentially address this challenge at scale and in a cost-effective manner. Objective: This laboratory-based sensory trial evaluated the acceptability of quintuple fortified salt (Q5FS), that is, iodized salt (IS) fortified with additional 4 micronutrients: iron, folic acid, vitamin B12, and zinc. Iodized salt and double fortified salt (DFS), that is, IS fortified with iron, are used for comparison. Methods: Forty-five respondents were recruited by open invitations to the university staff and their families. Each study participant rated 10 food items each in a set of 3 identical preparations differing only in the salt used. A 5-point hedonic scale was used to rate each dish on 6 sensory attributes: appearance, color, aroma, taste, texture, and aftertaste. Finally, the dish was rated on the attribute of overall acceptability—a subjective combined score based on all sensory attributes considered together. Results: Among the 3 salt types, there was no difference in scores for the sensory attributes of appearance, aroma, taste, texture, and aftertaste, and the attribute of overall acceptability. Color in IS scored significantly higher than in Q5FS and DFS, but there was no difference between the scores of DFS and Q5FS. Conclusions: The 3 salts IS, DFS, and Q5FS are comparable to each other in all sensory properties, except for color. This study concludes that Q5FS is organoleptically acceptable under ideal conditions.

Modeling the Contribution of Multiple Micronutrient Fortification of Salt to Daily Nutrient Intake Among the Ethiopian Population

“…However, a study attempting to simultaneously fortify salt with iodine, iron, and zinc reported that iodine was lost when zinc was added in the spray solution but researchers observed a viable outcome due to the encapsulation of zinc and iron [ 51 ]. Another study at the University of Toronto successfully developed quintuple fortified salt containing folic acid, vitamin B-12, iron, and zinc using microencapsulation technology on iodized salt [ 52 ]. This may cause potential difference in the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of DFS with iodine and folate compared with fortification with the inclusion of iodine, folic acid, and zinc.…”

Sensory panel results of a dried fish powder supplement among caregivers and young children in Zambia

“…By utilising dried fish powder as its primary ingredient, ComFA+Fish is a nutrient-dense, locally accessible product that can easily be added to traditional dishes that family members are already used to consuming, including infants and young children who are in the complementary feeding stage. It is expected that this approach also helped ensure that the ComFA+Fish dishes received high scores for overall acceptability, as this is an attribute that Puri et al (2022) argue is more important ‘from the consumer point of view’ than are individual sensory attributes ( 41 , 5 ) .…”

“…For Sensory Panel I, we developed a technical lexicon for use by caregivers to evaluate five sensory attributes and two additional attributes of the four ComFAþFish dishes. Development of this lexicon and the panel's procedures were informed by Madrelle et al (2017) and others (40)(41)(42)(43) and the ComFAþFish dishes that were assessed included:…”

“…For Sensory Panel II, we developed a three-item set of descriptors for use by caregivers to assess their child's global liking of ComFAþFish complementary maize porridge (see Appendix 2). Development of these descriptors and the panel's procedures were informed by Madrelle et al (2017) and others (40)(41)(42)(43) . We translated the three items from English into Tonga and pre-tested them among Tonga speakers for clarity of language prior to use by the caregivers.…”