Artificial Enrichment of White Rice as a Solution to Endemic Beriberi

Preliminary field trials in the Philippines with artificially enriched white rice have been made with a total of almost 3,500 individuals, including government employees and their families, members of the Armed Forces, and the children in government institutions. The results in so far as “acceptability” with reference to color, taste, odor, palatability and digestibility is concerned have been completely satisfactory. Limited observation points to beneficial effects on peripheral neuritis among members of the Armed Forces. The results of the large-scale feeding of enriched rice in Bataan Province will be published in the future as soon as the studies are completed.