Modeling Vitamin D Fortification Scenarios for the Australian Population.

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Public Health
• Food Science

Background:

• Low vitamin D status is common in Australia, with most people having inadequate dietary intake.
• Increasing dietary vitamin D is a potential strategy to improve population-level vitamin D status.

Purpose of the Study:

• To model four vitamin D fortification scenarios for Australia.
• To assess the potential impact of different fortification strategies on vitamin D intake and safety.

Main Methods:

• Utilized food consumption data from the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (n=12,153).
• Modeled four scenarios of vitamin D fortification in various food products.
• Assessed dietary adequacy using the North American Estimated Average Requirement and safety against the Australian upper intake level.

Main Results:

• Projected proportions of Australians with vitamin D intake below 10 μg/d ranged from 60% to 84% across scenarios.
• No participants exceeded the upper intake level of 80 μg/d in any modeled scenario.

Conclusions:

• Systematic vitamin D fortification can lead to meaningful improvements in population intake.
• Implementing an optimal fortification strategy necessitates amendments to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.