Some countries require or recommend fortification of foods. As of January 2022, 37 countries, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, require food fortification of cooking oil, rice, wheat flour or maize (corn) flour with vitamin A, usually as retinyl palmitate or retinyl acetate. Examples include Pakistan, oil, 11.7 mg/kg and Nigeria, oil, 6 mg/kg; wheat and maize flour, 2 mg/kg. An additional 12 countries, mostly in southeast Asia, have a voluntary fortification program. For example, the government of India recommends 7.95 mg/kg in oil and 0.626 mg/kg for wheat flour and rice. However, compliance in countries with voluntary fortification is lower than countries with mandatory fortification. No countries in Europe or North America fortify foods with vitamin A.
Separated from fortification via addition of synthetic vitamin A to foods, means of fortifying foods via genetic engineering have been explored. Research on rice began in 1982. The first field trials of golden rice cultivars were conducted in 2004. The result was "Golden Rice", a variety of Oryza sativa rice produced through genetic engineering to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a precursor of retinol, in the edible parts of rice. In May 2018, regulatory agencies in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand had concluded that Golden Rice met food safety standards. On 21 July 2021, the Philippines became the first country to officially issue the biosafety permit for commercially propagating Golden Rice. However, in April 2023, the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued a Writ of Kalikasan ordering the Department of Agriculture to stop the commercial distribution of genetically modified rice in the country.