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Prateek Rastogi, Co-founder & CEO, Better Nutrition
India does not suffer from a shortage of food. Yet, anaemia continues to affect a large part of the population across age groups, genders, and income levels. This paradox – plates that are full but bodies that are undernourished – highlights a deeper issue: the quality of nutrition in everyday diets. For decades, the dominant response to iron deficiency has been supplementation. Tablets, syrups, fortified gummies, and government distribution programmes have been deployed at scale. While these interventions have played an important role, anaemia remains stubbornly persistent. This raises a critical question: are we addressing the symptom, or the root cause?
A new and far more sustainable answer is emerging – biofortified foods. Instead of adding iron after food is processed, biofortification focuses on growing crops that are naturally richer in iron and other essential micronutrients. Today, these foods are no longer confined to research trials or pilot programmes. Biofortified atta, rice, millets, and pulses are already available to consumers on platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, Amazon, and modern retail – making this solution practical, scalable, and immediate.
Why Anaemia Remains a National Challenge
Anaemia is not caused by lack of calories; it is caused by lack of absorbable iron and supporting micronutrients. Staples like wheat and rice form the backbone of Indian diets, but over decades of breeding crops primarily for yield and shelf life, their micronutrient density has declined.
As a result, even regular consumption of staples does not guarantee adequate iron intake. The burden is highest among women and children, but urban populations are increasingly affected as well. Fatigue, poor concentration, reduced immunity, and lower productivity are common consequences – many of which are normalised and never traced back to nutrition.
The Supplementation Trap
Iron supplementation has been the default response for years. While supplements can help correct deficiencies in controlled, clinical settings, they face several challenges at the population scale. First, compliance is low. Supplements are often discontinued due to gastrointestinal discomfort, metallic taste, or simply forgetfulness. Second, absorption varies widely. The body does not always absorb synthetic iron efficiently, especially when consumed without the right dietary context. Third, supplements treat iron in isolation, whereas nutrition in real life works as a system – iron absorption is influenced by zinc, vitamin C, protein, and overall gut health. Most importantly, supplementation does not change what people eat every day. Once the programme stops, the deficiency often returns.
Artificial Fortification: A Partial Fix
Food fortification – adding iron to flour or rice during processing – has improved reach compared to supplements. However, it also has limitations. Fortified nutrients are added post-harvest, which can lead to uneven distribution, stability issues, and variability in actual intake. Fortification often focuses on one or two nutrients, ignoring the broader nutritional matrix needed for effective absorption. From a consumer perspective, fortification labels rarely reflect batch-level reality – they are typically based on assumed averages. Fortification helps, but it does not fundamentally improve the nutritional quality of the crop itself.
Biofortification: Fixing Nutrition at the Source
Biofortification takes a fundamentally different approach. It begins at the seed and soil level.
Through selective breeding and improved agronomic practices, crops are developed to naturally accumulate higher levels of iron, zinc, calcium, protein, and other micronutrients during growth. The nutrient is embedded within the grain’s structure, not added later. This mirrors how humans evolved to absorb nutrition from whole foods, not isolates. Biofortified staples such as high-iron rice, iron- and calcium-rich millets like ragi and bajra, nutrient-dense wheat atta, and biofortified pulses have shown consistently higher iron content than conventional varieties. More importantly, because the nutrient exists in a natural food matrix, bioavailability is significantly better compared to many supplemental forms.
Absorption Matters More Than Intake
Iron intake alone does not determine impact – absorption does. When iron is consumed as part of whole foods, alongside natural proteins, fibers, and companion minerals, the body regulates uptake more efficiently. This is why traditional diets, despite being simpler, often supported better health outcomes than modern, ultra-processed eating patterns supplemented with pills.
Biofortified foods deliver iron in the same context in which humans have always absorbed nutrients – through meals, not medication.
From Research to Retail: Biofortification Goes Mainstream
Until recently, biofortification was discussed mainly in academic and policy circles. That has changed. Today, consumers can simply search for “biofortified atta” or “2X iron-rich millets” on quick-commerce apps and receive nutrient-dense staples at their doorstep. This marks a crucial shift – nutrition is no longer dependent on behavioral change or medical compliance. It is built into what people already eat every day. Unlike supplements or trend-driven health products, biofortified staples do not ask consumers to add anything new to their routine. They simply make existing habits more nourishing.
Beyond Iron: A Multi-Nutrient Advantage
Another major advantage of biofortification is that it does not stop at iron. Modern biofortified crops are developed to improve multiple micronutrients simultaneously – zinc for immunity, calcium for bone health, magnesium for metabolism, and even protein quality. Addressing anaemia in isolation is no longer enough; nutrition deficiencies often coexist. By improving the overall nutrient density of staples, biofortification strengthens the entire nutritional foundation, not just one parameter.
A Sustainable, Scalable Solution
From a public health and food systems perspective, biofortification is uniquely scalable. Once the seed and agronomic system are established, the benefits repeat every season without recurring distribution costs. Farmers benefit from better crop value, consumers receive better nutrition, and the food system moves from reactive correction to proactive nourishment.
This is not a trend or a fad. It is a structural upgrade to how food is grown and consumed.
The Path Forward
Anaemia cannot be solved by pills alone. Nor can it be eliminated by labels that promise nutrition without measuring it. The future lies in growing better food, not compensating for poor food later. Biofortified staples offer a rare alignment of science, sustainability, consumer behavior, and scalability. As these foods become more widely available across retail and quick commerce, India has a real opportunity to address iron deficiency at scale – quietly, naturally, and permanently. The solution to anaemia does not lie in asking people to eat differently. It lies in ensuring that what they already eat is truly nourishing.