# Assessment of Several Approaches to Biofortified Products: A Literature Review
## 2 Materials and Methods
### The Complexity of Dimensions of the Biofortified Products
#### 3.2.2 Biofortification and Technical-Normative Definition  
The research addresses a definition approach of biofortified products/fields and the regulation of so-called novel foods, the production of which in terms of food law principles and requirements are largely identified in EU Reg. 178/2002 and 2283/2015 and in the European Food Safety (EFSA). The literature shows that the techniques for obtaining biofortified products, such as enriched products, inevitably lead to several elements of contact with functional food [33]. On the basis of this consideration, it is necessary to attribute the possible classifications of functional products, which can take the form of fortified food (foods obtained through a technological process of fortification that makes them more nutritious), enriched food \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline
**Types of Biofortificaton studied** & **Frequency** & **\%** \\ \hline Agronomy, herbaceous cultivation & 375 & 31.5\% \\ Human health & 339 & 28.5\% \\ OGM & 201 & 16.9\% \\ Economy and market & 153 & 12.9\% \\ Reducing hunger in the world & 72 & 6.1\% \\ Mixed & 49 & 4.1\% \\ \hline
**Total** & **1189** & **100.0\%** \\ \hline \end{tabular} Note: Our elaboration.  
\end{table} 
Table 4: Types of definitions studied in the papers. (in which the percentage of one or more nutrients already present in nature is increased), supplementary food (subcategory of fortified foods) [9; 10]. The definition of functional foods, produced at institutional level (e.g., ILSI Europe in the context of the European Concerted Action on Functional Food Science--Concert Action \"FUFOSE\") is not, as is well-known, unambiguous, to the point that it has led to the inclusion in the sector of products that are not (e.g., pharmaceutical and herbal products with common beneficial/curative properties) and that cannot boost these characteristics [34; 35]. Today functional foods are considered as such if they represent \"a normal daily food\" (they are not food supplements or a medicine, nutraceuticals or herbal products in tablet form); if they are presented to the consumer in a manner consistent with the content of EU Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods; if they contain claims relating to the improvement of a biological function or claims relating to the reduction of the risk of disease occurrence [36; 37]. According to the literature, biofortification is generated through various strategies, such as genetic engineering (genetic manipulation of nucleotide sequences), certain classical genetic techniques (e.g., cross-pollination) or agronomic techniques (soil or leaf fertilization), as also provided for in some EU national regulations [38; 39]. With regard to cultivation techniques, a broad scientific debate is underway, prompted, among other things, by the concerns expressed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a commission set up by FAO and the World Health Organization to draw up a set of rules and regulations on fortification [7; 38; 39]. While emphasizing the positive public health results of biofortification, it introduced the basis for a debate on aspects such as production method, plant selection, genetic modification, and agronomic practices, leading to a conclusive distinction between \"biofortification\" and \"conventional fortification.\" The fortification technique consists of adding nutrients already during the production process, while biofortification seems to produce both increased nutrients from agronomic practices and modern biotechnology techniques (GMOs), confusing the consumer, who may believe that there are better ways to increase the nutrient content of a food than others [40; 41; 42]. Thus, different areas of overlap emerge between fortified or supplementary foods and functional foods, together included in the category of so called \"novel foods\" [43; 44]. GMO products, food additives, flavorings, and food supplements are excluded from the list of novel foods [44].