Berikning

Berikning is a Norwegian noun meaning enrichment. It denotes the act of making something better by adding desirable elements. The term stems from berike, “to enrich,” and is used in several fields to describe an enhancement beyond the original state.

In nutrition and food science, berikning refers to the fortification or enrichment of foods with vitamins and minerals to improve nutritional quality and prevent deficiencies. Some nutrients are added to restore values lost during processing (enrichment), while others are added to increase health benefits (fortification). Common examples include iron or folic acid in flour, iodine in salt, and vitamin D in milk. Public health policies often guide which nutrients are added and at what levels.

In information management and data analysis, berikning describes data enrichment—the process of augmenting existing records with additional attributes from external sources to improve analysis, targeting, and decision-making. In linguistics and culture, it can refer to lexical or cultural enrichment, such as expanding a language’s vocabulary through borrowings or neologisms. In agriculture and ecology, berikning can describe soil or ecosystem enrichment by adding nutrients to support growth or productivity, with potential environmental trade-offs.

The term is used in Norwegian and other Scandinavian languages, and its specific meaning depends on context, but it generally centers on adding value through supplementation.