Ministers on brink of adding folic acid to bread

MINISTerS are to consult on adding folic acid to flour and bread in a move that is said will help save generations of babies from devastating medical conditions such as spina bifida.

Twelve years after official food watchdogs first recommended the measure, the government says it will finally consult on adding the vitamin to all white flour.

The proposal is controversial, with some critics opposed to what they describe as mass medication through food. However, flour and bread already have vitamins and minerals added to them – synthetic iron, calcium, and two B vitamins – as a public health measure.

and 81 other countries have been adding folic acid to flour for many years to help protect developing babies in the womb.

The proposal has the backing of charities, all of the uK Chief Medical officers and the Scientific advisory Committee on Nutrition, which is the independent body that provides scientific advice on diet and nutrition to the uK governments.

Public Health Minister Steve Brine announced the consultation by saying: ‘We have been listening closely to experts, health charities and medical professionals and we have agreed that now is the right time to explore whether fortification in flour is the right approach for the uK.

‘My priority is to make sure that if introduced, we are certain it is safe and beneficial for all.’

Women trying to get pregnant are advised to take folic acid supplements to ensure the baby is healthy and does not develop a neural tube defect (NTD), such as spina bifida. However, as many pregnancies are unplanned, this creates a health risk and there are an estimated 1,000 cases where the baby has a NTD in the uK each year.

Most result in a termination, miscarriage or stillbirth, while those born with spina bifida suffer serious medical complications. Data from the uS and Canada suggests adding folic acid to flour can prevent 70 per cent of these birth defects.

The consultation, which will begin early next year, will consider whether there are any risks to other members of the public from the move. In the past, there have been concerns that adding folic acid to the diet might mask the diagnosis of other conditions such as pernicious anaemia, which is a deficiency in the production of red blood cells.

‘Priority is to make sure it is safe’