Methods for quantifying the complete nutritional value of a standard equivalent unit of the nutritional value of one serving of fruits and vegetables (SFV)and for fortifying a base food to contain same for human consumption

1. A method to fortify a base food, wherein the base food is a food fit for human consumption, the method comprising:

(a) using a computer to develop a standard equivalent unit of nutritional value of protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering components equal to those found in a weighted average serving of fruits and vegetables sold in the United States by:

(i) identifying a type and amount of each fruit and each vegetable consumed by humans within the United States that, when combined, represents at least 85% of a total amount of fruits and vegetables consumed by humans therein;

(ii) determining a contribution value for each fruit and each vegetable identified in (i), expressed as a percentage of the amount of each fruit and vegetable consumed relative to the total amount of all fruits and vegetables consumed;

(iii) determining a portion size of each fruit and each vegetable identified in (i);

(iv) determining a nutritional content of each fruit and each vegetable determined in (iii) pertaining to protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol and antioxidant-delivering components;

(v) calculating the standard equivalent unit of the nutritional value of protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering components present in one serving of fruits and vegetables by

(vi) multiplying the contribution value of each fruit and each vegetable determined in (ii) by the total nutritional content of each protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering component of a portion size of each fruit and vegetable in (iv) to derive a weighted value for each nutritional component; and

(vii) summing the weighted values for each nutritional component derived in (vi);

(b) providing the base food;

(c) using the computer to determine the nutritional content of each protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering component of the base food;

(d) using the computer to identify a desired total target nutritional value of protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant nutrients by determining a target multiple of standard equivalent units of the nutritional value of each protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering component present in one serving of fruits and vegetables determined in (a);

(e) using the computer to identify a fortifying amount of each protein, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering component that the base food requires to provide the target multiple of the standard equivalent unit of nutritional value of protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering components developed in (d) by determining a nutritional gap upon subtracting the nutritional content of the base food of (c) from the desired total target nutritional content in (d);

(f) creating a fortifying composition for nutritional supplementation of the base food wherein the fortifying composition comprises the fortifying amount of each protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering component as identified in (e),

wherein the fortifying composition comprises at least one of:

an amount of the protein component of from about 0.0 g to about 16.9 g,

an amount of the fiber component of from about 0.0 g to about 25 g,

an amount of the phytosterol component of from about 0.00 g to about 104.41 g,

an amount of the antioxidant-delivering component that delivers from about 0.0 ORAC units to about 18,560 ORAC units,

or a combination thereof;

wherein the at least one fortifying agent is in an amount which is represented by a positive integer;

(g) for each nutritional component in the fortifying composition of step (f), which has a color, taste or odor, which modifies the color, taste or odor-of- odor of the base food, microencapsulating that nutrient to substantially preserve the organoleptic properties of the base food; and

(h) adding the fortifying composition of step (g) to the base food to yield a final fortified food.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the base food is selected from the group consisting of a beverage, a baked good, a breakfast cereal, a cereal grain product, a dairy product, a snack, a quick serve product, and a combination thereof.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the base food is a fresh food.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the base food is a processed food.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the base food is a natural food.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the target multiple of standard equivalent units of nutritional value of protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering components present in one serving of fruits and vegetables in step (d) is selected from the group consisting of two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fortification composition is in a form selected from the group consisting of a tablet, a capsule, a caplet, a powder, a solution, and a combination thereof.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nutritional component of the fortification composition, selected from the group consisting of a protein component, a vitamin component, a mineral component, a fiber component, a phytosterol component, an antioxidant-delivering component, and a combination thereof, has a color, taste or odor and is microencapsulated in order to substantially maintain organoleptic characteristics of the base food, wherein the organoleptic characteristics further comprise color and mouth feel.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the protein component of the fortifying composition in step (f) comprises a fortifying amount of at least one amino acid selected from the group consisting of tryptophan, threonine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, cysteine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, valine, arginine, histidine, alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, serine, and combinations thereof.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the fortifying amount of the at least one amino acid in the at least one protein component of the fortifying composition of step (f) is an amount of at least one amino acid selected from the group consisting of:

from about 0.0 g to about 0.16 g of tryptophan;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.52 g of threonine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.47 g ofisoleucine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.78 g of leucine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.82 g of lysine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.2 g ofmethionine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.2 g of cysteine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.99 g of phenylalanine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.39 g of tyrosine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.69 g of valine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.92 g of arginine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.32 g of histidine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.59 g of alanine;

from about 0.0 g to about 3.12 g of aspartic acid;

from about 0.0 g to about 3.89 g of glutamic acid;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.45 g of glycine;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.93 g of proline;

from about 0.0 g to about 0.61 g of serine; and

a combination thereof;

wherein the at least one amino acid is in an amount which is represented by a positive integer.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the vitamin component present in the fortifying amount in the fortifying composition of step (f) is selected from the group consisting of vitamin C, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, biotin, folate, choline, vitamin B 12, vitamin A, retinol, alpha (α)-carotene, beta (β)-cryptoxanthin, beta (β)-carotene, lycopene, leutein and zeaxanthin, vitamin E, alpha (α)-tocopherol, beta (β)-tocopherol, gamma (Γ)-tocopherol, delta (Δ)-tocopherol, vitamin D, vitamin K, and combinations thereof.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the fortifying amount of the vitamin component of the fortifying composition of step (f) is an amount of at least one vitamin selected from the group consisting of:

from about 0.0 mg to about 259.00 mg of vitamin C;

from about 0.0 mg to about 0.63 mg of thiamine;

from about 0.0 mg to about 8.79 mg of niacin;

from about 0.0 mg to about 2.99 mg of pantothenic acid;

from about 0.0 mg to about 2.02 mg of vitamin B6;

from about 0.0 μg to about 285.7 μg of folate;

from about 0.0 mg to about 120.0 mg of choline;

from about 0.0 mg to about 8.54 mg of betaine;

from about 0.0 μg to about 564.96 μg of vitamin A;

from about 0.0 μg to about 5838.3 μg of beta (β)-carotene;

from about 0.0 μg to about 1344 μg of alpha (α)-carotene;

from about 0.0 μg to about 503 μg of beta (β)-cryptoxanthin;

from about 0.0 μg to about 4821.4 μg of lycopene;

from about 0 μg to about 2111 μg of lutein and zeaxanthin;

from about 0.00 mg to about 2.75 mg of vitamin E (alpha (α)-tocopherol);

from about 0.00 mg to about 0.04 mg of beta (α)-tocopherol;

from about 0.0 mg to about 0.47 mg of gamma (Γ)-tocopherol;

from about 0.00 mg to about 0.05 mg of delta (Δ)-tocopherol;

from about 0.0 IU to about 0.91 IU of vitamin D;

from about 0.00 μg to about 91.6 μof vitamin K; and

a combination thereof;

wherein the at least one vitamin is in an amount which is represented by a positive integer.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mineral component present in the fortifying amount in the fortifying composition of step (f) is selected from the group consisting of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, fluoride, selenium, and combinations thereof.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the fortifying amount of the mineral component of the fortifying composition of step (f) is an amount of at least one mineral selected from the group consisting of:

from about 0.0 mg to about 240.4 mg of calcium;

from about 0.00 mg to about 5.85 mg of iron;

from about 0.0 mg to about 199.3 mg of magnesium;

from about 0.0 mg to about 451.3 mg of phosphorus;

from about 0 mg to about 3570 mg of potassium;

from about 0.0 mg to about 106.4 mg of sodium;

from about 0.0 mg to about 2.4 mg of zinc;

from about 0.0 mg to about 0.83 mg of copper;

from about 0.00 mg to about 1.59 mg of manganese;

from about 0.0 μg to about 169.2 μg of fluoride;

from about 0.0 μg to about 3.85 μg of selenium; and

a combination thereof;

wherein the at least one mineral is in an amount which is represented by a positive integer.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein adding step (h) is by mixing.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein adding step (h) is by blending.

17. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the final fortified food is selected from the group consisting of a fortified beverage, a fortified baked good, a fortified breakfast cereal, a fortified cereal grain product, a fortified dairy product, a fortified snack, a fortified quick serve product, and a combination thereof.

18. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the final fortified food comprises:

at least 1.22 g of protein,

at least 2.5 g of fiber,

at least 1.44 mg of phytosterol, and

at least 1,486 ORAC units.