Plans to add folic acid to bread approved

The Food Standards Agency has approved plans to fortify bread with folic acid in a bid to reduce birth defects such as spina bifida.

The proposal was agreed unanimously by the watchdog's board and will now be recommended to health ministers.

Folic acid is a source of folate, which is found in broccoli, sprouts, peas, chickpeas, brown rice and fruit.

Women are advised to take extra folic acid while trying to get pregnant and during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, because it is important in the development of the spine in the first stages of pregnancy.

However, research has found that fewer than half of women follow this advice - either because the pregnancy was unplanned or because they were not aware of the advice.

Currently, there are between 700 and 900 pregnancies affected by neural tube defects such as spina bifida each year.

Countries including the US, Chile and Canada have already fortified flour with folic acid. Since the US introduced the measure about ten years ago, it has seen a drop of more than a quarter in such birth defects.

Speaking at the FSA board meeting in Nottingham, chairperson Dame Deirdre Hutton said: "I don't believe it is the ultimate solution. I believe it is the best pragmatic solution we can get.

However, some groups are opposed to the plan, Age Concern warned that folic acid being added to flour could harm some elderly people, because it could mask other vitamin deficiencies, such as a B12 deficiency, which can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system in extreme cases.

However, the FSA's board said that it wants controls on voluntary addition of folic acid to products such as breakfast cereals and spreads. It also wants clearer public advice on the taking of supplements to prevent over-consumption by some groups.

The issue of whether folic acid should be added to bread or flour, and consideration of appropriate labelling, will be discussed at the next open board meeting in June, when the FSA will make its final recommendation to UK health ministers.

(KMcA/JM)