Folic Acid Fears Disputed

February 28, 2008: 12:00 AM EST

UK pressure group Folic Acid Action says the Food Standards Agency’s worries about folic acid are unfounded. The group says the fears may prevent pregnant women, and women trying to conceive, from supplementing their diet with the nutrient proven to reduce neural tube birth defects. The action group says no ill effects or risks of folic acid have been proven. The government agency recommended that all UK flour/bread should be fortified with folic acid but then called on food manufacturers to consider reducing folic acid levels in some foods to ward against overexposure if flour and/or bread was fortified. The agency said that up to 380,000 people could be overdosing on folic acid. The pressure group said the government should consider the US model where folate flour fortification is boosted by individual foods being fortified by manufacturers. It estimates mandatory flour fortification alone could reduce neural tube defect births by about a third.

Shane Starling, "Folic Acid Fortification Pressure Rises in UK", NutraIngredients, February 28, 2008, © Decision News Media

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