Fortitech aims to win with program WIN plan focuses on supplementing processed foods to fight malnutrition
By CATHY WOODRUFF, Staff writer First published in print: Wednesday, November 5, 2008
SCHENECTADY — Fortitech, the Schenectady-based maker of nutrient mixes used in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries, is expanding its reach into products and programs to battle malnutrition.
The company said Tuesday it has launched a World Initiative for Nutrition and hired a new director for the program, Françoise Chomé, who previously worked with the GAIN Foundation and is based in Denmark.
GAIN is an acronym for Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, and Chomé's work with the foundation included launching and maintaining food fortification programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America, according to Fortitech's announcement.
"We have worked on many fortification programs aimed at decreasing the incidence of malnutrition in the past, but to effectively address this, we needed to establish dedicated resources with the sole purpose of fighting malnutrition,'' Fortitech CEO and President Walt Borisenok said in a written statement.
Fortitech, founded in 1986, is best known for the nutrient mixes it develops for products sold to consumers in supermarkets and other retail outlets.
Based on those mixes, food and beverage manufacturers can tailor their products and marketing to tout benefits for, say, joints, bones or cardiovascular health.
WIN, said Fortitech spokesman Patrick Morris, will focus on adding important nutrients to processed foods that are available or can be distributed in places where poverty and malnutrition are common.
"WIN is focusing on reaching those kinds of demographics, as opposed to working with the big manufacturers of the world," Morris said.
The program aims mainly to boost the nutritional value of commercially processed foods, because they can be consumed without extensive preparation or other ingredients, he said.
Fortitech plans to work with governmental and non-governmental organizations, ingredient suppliers, local food mills and manufacturers to develop and deliver the foods.
Morris said employees already are well-positioned in countries around the world, including Mexico, Brazil and Malaysia, to get the WIN program rolling.
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