Fortified foods are poised for major growth this year as consumers look for convenient staple foods with added health benefits. Dairy manufacturers have long recognised the value - and relative ease - of adding extra ingredients to their portfolios, with breakfast cereal producers not far behind.

Now other categories are starting to catch up. Warburtons' new loaf, for example, has 50% more fibre than a standard white loaf, according to Sarah Miskell, category marketing controller at Warburtons.

"Consumers are looking for specific ingredients to meet health needs, which they can get from fortified products," she says.

"Health is still one of the biggest trends in the food industry as a whole, but particularly within bakery. Now more than ever, consumers are looking for added health benefits from staples such as bread."

Last September, Kellogg's launched Optivita - a cereal enriched with beta-glucan - which it claims can help lower cholesterol.

"We're taking our cues from science. I think the industry is in general," says Kellogg's nutritionist Rimi Obra-Ratwatte.

There may be scope for further developments in fortified foods in other areas.

"Healthy snacks is a huge growth area, especially cereal bars," Obra-Ratwatte says.

"Fortified foods are nothing new. But what is new is consumer awareness of it. Health is a motivator because it's so big in the press."

However, not everyone is raving about fortified foods. Although the FSA has launched a consultation on whether it should be mandatory for manufacturers to fortify bread with folic acid, it stresses that there is no substitute for a balanced diet.

"The composition of individual foods is less important than the nutrient content and overall balance of the diet as a whole," an FSA spokeswoman says.

"A varied and balanced diet, which includes plenty of fruit, veg and starchy foods, plus some dairy and protein foods, should provide all the nutrients a healthy individual requires."

Michael da Costa, managing director of The Food Doctor, says the fortified market is growing but the growth is down to the ease of tracking down products.

"Whether fortified products are the new diet products depends on what is defined as diet," he says. "If you're talking about weight loss then no, but if you're talking about health, then yes.

"This will change with age and circumstance but the younger health investors are likely to become conscious consumers. The increase in education and the requirements in transparency should maintain the growth of fortified products."n