It said that deficiencies of Vitamin A and D, which result in poor physical and mental health, are common in all ages and socioeconomic groups, with nearly 85% of the Indian population deficient in Vitamin A and approximately 80% of the population vitamin D deficient.
Lotus Dairy said it focuses on improving public health in India and this step of adding vitamins will allow the company to offer a healthier alternative to other brands available in the market.
Anuj Modi, director of Lotus Dairy, said, “Micronutrient malnutrition is a global public health problem as more than 2bn people across the globe suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, with approximately half of them living in India.
“Poor dietary diversity, inequitable access to food, and changing urban diets are primarily responsible for such deficiencies. As a socially responsible business, we’re excited to share that Lotus will now fortify its milk to help in mitigating this problem. Lotus Dairy values the trust our consumers place in us by choosing our products to provide good nutrition to their families and we promise to continue working hard to retain that trust.”
Dr P R Sodani, pro-president and dean training, at Indian Institute of Health Management Research University (IIHMR), said, “IIHMR has been implementing a project on promoting and strengthening milk fortification in three states – Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, supported by Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
“Under this project, we are closely working with the milk industry for support by producing fortified milk for better health outcomes. The main goal of the project is to reduce the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies in the State of Rajasthan by fortifying milk.
“We appreciate Lotus Diary’s initiative of fortifying milk which intends to focus on enhancing health of the population.”
Lotus is a division of the H.P Modi group involved in procuring milk and producing milk products.
Lotus’ milk processing capacity is more than 1.7 million liters per day, with milk from more than 45,000 dairy farmers in approximately 1,650 village-level procurement societies.