What is the primary benefit of fortifying foods?

Fortifying foods primarily serves to enhance their nutritional quality. This process involves adding essential vitamins, minerals, or other nutrients to foods to help prevent deficiencies in the population and to promote overall health. For example, adding vitamin D to milk or iodine to salt are common practices that address widespread nutritional deficiencies.

While improving taste and texture, preserving color and flavor, or reducing spoilage rates are important aspects of food science, they are not the primary goals of food fortification. Fortification specifically targets nutritional enhancement, making it a crucial public health strategy to improve dietary quality and combat various health issues related to nutrient deficiencies.