Currently, food fortification encompasses a broader concept, and might be done for several reasons. The first is to restore nutrients lost during food processing, a process known as enrichment. In this case, the amount of nutrients added is approximately equal to the natural content in the food before processing. A second reason is to add nutrients that may not be present naturally in food, a process known as fortification. In this case, the amount of nutrient added may be higher than that present before processing.
Fortification also standardizes the contents of nutrients that show variable concentrations.
A typical example is the addition of vitamin C to orange juice to standardize vitamin C concentration and compensate for changes due to seasonal and processing variations. Finally, for technological purposes, a preservative or colouring agents are added to processed foods. Most fortifying agents are vitamins and minerals, and in some cases essential amino acids and proteins. The words enrichment and fortification have historical origins. Enrichment was originally introduced in the 1940s with enactment of the Standards for Enrichment Programs aimed at replenishing nutrients lost during cereal processing.