Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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DHSC News Story, 13 June 2019
Plans to add folic acid to flour in the UK could prevent up to 200 birth defects a year, Public Health Minister, Seema Kennedy, announced today.
Health departments in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are asking for people’s views on their proposal to add folic acid to flour.
The 12-week public consultation will explore what kinds of products should be included.
Folic acid, or vitamin B9, is essential to the development of a healthy baby during early pregnancy. Not having enough of it can lead to babies being born with brain, spine and spinal cord problems known as ‘neural tube defects’.
Women who are trying to become pregnant are advised to take a daily supplement of 400 micrograms of folic acid before they conceive and during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
However, roughly half of all pregnancies in the UK are unplanned and evidence suggests that even for planned pregnancies, many women do not follow health advice to take folic acid supplements before pregnancy.
Around 1,000 pregnancies are diagnosed with neural tube defects each year in the UK. Of these:
More than 60 countries worldwide now add folic acid to their flour, including Australia, Canada and the US. In Australia, neural tube defects fell 14% after it introduced the legal requirement to add folic acid to bread flour. In the UK it is common for foods to have vitamins or minerals voluntarily added for nutritional benefit. UK wheat flour millers already have to add thiamine, niacin and iron to restore what is lost in the milling process and calcium for health benefits.
Public Health Minister, Seema Kennedy, said:
We all want to give our children the best start in life and a birth defect diagnosis is devastating for parents. The simple measure of adding folic acid to flour would help spare hundreds of families from such a life-changing event. Women from the poorest areas are less likely to take folic acid supplements and it is right that we do all we can to protect the most vulnerable in society.
Kate Steele, Chief Executive of spina bifida charity, Shine, said:
Shine is delighted that the consultation on how mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid will be introduced in the UK has now been launched. After more than 25 years of campaigning for this, we look forward to the day that mandatory fortification with folic acid finally becomes a reality. Its introduction will change many lives for the better by reducing the incidence of anencephaly and spina bifida. This relatively simple step will give new babies and children, and their families, the chance of happier, healthier lives.
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Proposal to add folic acid to flour: consultation document The consultation is available as a web page - see: Proposal to add folic acid to flour: consultation document. The text of the consultation document is available as a pdf file on this site (click on image). Note: This consultation closes at 11:59pm on 9 September 2019 |
Also provided is a 'Ministerial Forward. The text of this is given below
Ministerial foreword: proposal to add folic acid to flour
Each year in the UK, around 1,000 pregnancies are affected by life-changing neural tube defects.
These birth defects occur when parts of the spinal cord do not develop properly and can affect the brain, spine and spinal cord. Some of these cases can be fatal and many lead to lifelong health complications for the child.
There is strong evidence that many neural tube defects can be prevented by increasing women’s intake of folic acid.
Recent evidence raises concern as fewer and fewer women are meeting the recommended levels from their diet alone.
Existing advice for women who are trying to conceive, or likely to become pregnant, is to take a daily supplement of folic acid. However, we know that around half of UK pregnancies are unplanned.
This has led to calls to fortify flour with folic acid. Fortification is seen as the most effective way of reaching those with the lowest intakes, typically younger women from deprived areas.
As the ministers and Permanent Secretary responsible for public health across the 4 nations, we all want to take action to help prevent the unnecessary risk to the health of newborns.
We have come together to deliver this consultation jointly because any action taken will affect industries that operate across the whole of the UK.
We hope that members of the public and third sector organisations as well as industry and the scientific community respond.
We will consider all views to ensure any action taken will ensure maximum health benefits while avoiding any negative impact.
We thank you in advance for your responses.
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