Malnourished households in Nigeria soon will have a simple ingredient available to improve their intake of key vitamins and minerals. Government regulators are launching standards for adding iron, zinc, folic acid, and vitamin B12 to bouillon cubes at minimum levels recommended by experts. While the standards will be voluntary for manufacturers for now, their adoption could help accelerate progress against diets deficient in essential micronutrients, or what's known in nutrition and public health circles as "hidden hunger." Fortified bouillon cubes could avert up to 16.6 million cases of anemia and up to 11,000 deaths from neural tube defects in Nigeria, according to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Regardless of economic situation or income level, everyone uses seasoning cubes," said 56-year-old Idowu Bello as she dropped one in her melon soup.