About
Britannia

"Britannia Industries is one of India, Aleading food companies with a 100 year legacy. Britannia is among the most trusted food brands, which many generations of Indians have grown up with and our brands are cherished and loved in India and the world over. Our Core Emphasis Across Portfolios is on Healthy, Fresh And Delicious Food.

Britannia set up the Britannia Nutrition Foundation in 2009, as a platform to work on public private partnership, to address malnutrition amongst under-privileged children and women. BNF was established with a purpose to help secure every Child, right to Nutrition and Growth by implementing sustainable and replicable programs, pursuing product innovation and research, addressing core and allied causes for malnutrition and assuming responsibility for the nourishment and vitality of the community."

Bengaluru

Maternal health and Child care (for e.g. Maternal and child micro-nutrient/ dietary supplementation/ Food fortification for children, women and general population/ Iron Folic Acid supplementation/ Vitamin A supplementation)

Delhi NCR

East Delhi Municipal Corporation

This project intended to alleviate iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in school going children aged 7-9 years of of East Delhi Municipal Corporation and also assess the efficacy of these biscuits in addressing IDA.

CSR

NA

"It was undertaken in collaboration with the East Delhi Municipal Corporation, HEAL Foundation, Britannia Nutrition Foundation, Indian Coalition for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
Primary school children of EDMC schools were screened for anemia . Around 50,000 school children were screened during the survey. A total of 102 EDMC schools were covered under project SUPOSHAN.
One workshop per month was organized during the period of intervention to educate the primary caretaker of the families about iron, its importance, anemia, its symptoms and overcoming it through daily diet to make the impact of the programme sustainable.
Interaction meetings were held with teachers, parents and community leaders to educate them about;malnutrition, anemia, hygiene and sanitationInformation Education and Communication material were distributed in a local language
The children were given iron fortified biscuits for a period of six months to improve their Hemoglobin levels and consequently over all iron status and alleviate IDA."

School going children aged 7-9 years.

Yes

NGO/Development organisations

NA

Yes

The prevalence of anemia was 78% in school children aged 7-9 years.

Post intervention there was a significant decrease in the anemia level was observed in the fortified biscuit group 10.5 % in comparison to the non , fortified biscuit group (43.6 % ).

Yes

East Delhi Municipal Corporation, HEAL Foundation, Britannia Nutrition Foundation, Indian Coalition for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

The objective of Suposhan was to address and alleviate the levels of iron deficiency anaemia in EDMC school children aged 7-9 years. A subset of the population were chosen to evaluate the efficacy of iron fortified biscuits in addressing IDA in children. A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted over the period of 9 months in five primary schools of EDMC, Delhi. Consumption of iron fortified biscuits improved iron status of children, as indicated by their increased concentration of haemoglobin and ferritin, serum iron, percentage transferrin saturation and decreased total iron binding capacity and decreased concentration of soluble transferrin receptor. Increase in mean haemoglobin level amongst children who consumed high iron fortified was 1gm/dl compared to and 0.3 gm/dl for non-fortified group..

Since past one year ,iron and B- vitamin fortified biscuits is being distributed to the children attending Anganwadi in the North Karnataka . The beneficiaries of this initiative are around 43, 260 children across 2684 anganwadis. Anganwadi children (3-6 yrs) get 2 biscuits / day , 5 days a week which meets 30-50% of their iron and essential B- vitamin requirement.

The efficacy of high iron fortified biscuits in improving iron status of school aged children was documented through this initiative. The minimal side effects were reported and biscuits resulted in high acceptance and compliance as a vehicle for iron fortification.

NA

"The program documents efficacy of high iron fortified biscuits in improving iron status of school aged children. The minimal side effect reported in the study with biscuits as a vehicle resulted in high acceptance and compliance to biscuits as a vehicle for iron fortification. Iron fortified biscuits as a vehicle can be a possible solution to overcome reported high rates of side effects to oral iron supplementation.
There was a disruption of intervention during long summer vacation post examination. To overcome the deficit in no. of consumption days, supervision activities were intensified during pre and post holidays with the recruitment of additional man power to ensure optimal supervision.
To ensure a continued intervention over a period of time it should be planned at the beginning of the academic year."

The intervention with fortified iron biscuits was well accepted and could be inferred from high compliance rate and the drop out rate was not very significant. Biscuits can be used as a potential vehicle for future fortification program. Iron fortification using biscuits as a vehicle is an effective strategy to address iron deficiency anemia among school age children.