Guidelines for conducting External Monitoring Food Fortification.

These guidelines provide a clear procedure for inspectors to effectively conduct external monitoring of fortified foods at manufacturing facilities, retail outlets, and ports of entry, to safeguard public health by ensuring the safety and quality of fortified products. As food fortification becomes an increasingly widespread and cost-effective strategy for delivering essential micronutrients and promoting sustainable development, the Government of Tanzania has launched a National Food Fortification Program targeting maize flour, wheat flour, and edible oil produced by large-scale industries. Within this program, the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) is responsible for regulating fortified foods on the market. These guidelines were developed to support inspectors in fulfilling this regulatory role through consistent, thorough, and effective monitoring practices.
The purpose of planning inspection activities is to ensure that (i) resources for conducting external monitoring of food fortification at food manufacturing facilities, food outlets, and ports of entry are allocated at a specified time; (ii) inspectors receive appropriate training on how to assess the compliance of fortified foods in the field. A comprehensive annual plan for fortified food monitoring should include at least two inspections of approved manufacturing facilities, routine checks at food outlets and ports of entry based on risk factors, estimation of required financial resources, inspector training and orientation, inter-agency coordination, preparation of inspection tools and labeling materials, and submission of the plan, schedule, and budget to the Authority. Actions to be taken when non-compliance is found during an inspection shall be clearly defined. These actions might include warnings and legal actions, which should be considered within the legal framework of the food legislation, depending on whether inspection is conducted in manufacturing facilities or food outlets.
The document includes (i) technical audit and inspection of manufacturing facilities; (ii) inspection of food outlets; (iii) monitoring fortificants and fortified foods before authorization for entry. In all the different procedures, great importance is given to the collection of samples because the purpose of corroborating trials is to ensure that (i) all samples show the presence of micronutrient indicators through qualitative tests; (ii) at least 80% of the samples contain micronutrients at the regulatory levels specified in the fortification regulations; (iii) the micronutrient compounds used meet the established specifications.