Efficacy and safety of food fortification with calcium among adults in Finland.

Objective: To examine the efficacy and safety of foods fortified with calcium in the adult population in Finland.

Design: A simulation study based on the FINDIET 2002 Survey, which estimated habitual food consumption, dietary supplement use and nutrient intakes using 48-hour recall and two 3-day food records, and an Internet survey of the consumption of fortified foods and dietary supplements.

Setting/participants: Participants of FINDIET 2002 were 25-64 years old from five areas (n = 2007). Participants of the Internet-based survey (n = 1537) were over 15 years of age from all over the country.

Results: If all potentially fortifiable foods were to be fortified with calcium, the proportion of participants with calcium intake below the recommended level (< 800 mg day(-1)) would decrease from 20.3% to 3.0% in men and from 27.8% to 5.6% in women compared with the situation where no foods were fortified. At the same time, the proportion of participants with calcium intake above the tolerable upper intake level (UL, > 2500 mg day(-1)) would increase from 0.6% to 12.7% in men and from 0.1% to 3.8% in women. However, in a probability-based model (11% of all fortifiable foods to be fortified with calcium) the proportion of participants with calcium intake below the recommended level would be 15.7% in men and 23.2% in women. The proportion with intake above the UL in this model would be 1.2% in men and 0.7% in women.

Conclusions: Food fortification would be a relatively effective and safe way to increase the calcium intake of the Finnish adult population.