whole grains, because not every natural micronutrient lost in processing can be replaced.
Foods and beverages can be “fortified.” This means adding one or more nutrients not normally found in the food in its natural state. Sometimes this is helpful — adding hard-to-get vitamin D to milk, adding calcium to non-dairy milks and orange juice for those who are lactose intolerant, and adding omega-3 fatty acids to eggs for people who don’t eat enough fatty fish.
But some foods are fortified with levels of nutrients that exceed limits set by the Institute of Medicine. And sometimes they’re just not necessary for you. For instance, according to a University of Toronto study, the most common vitamins added to fortified waters are already abundant in the average diet.
A report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that vitamin-fortified snack foods are among the most misleading.
Researchers found that people are less likely to look past front-of-box claims on snack foods to read the
