The re-emergence of the Victorian-era condition rickets in the UK has put the spotlight back on vitamin D intakes, and a recent advisory committee report will likely spur debate on the need for mandatory fortification.
Look at the globe and you’d be hard pressed to find two countries further apart than Ireland and New Zealand. But they stand side-by-side on the folic acid fortification issue – it is not needed.
Following debate by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) yesterday, the
baking industry has raised further concerns over recommendations
that folic acid be added to either flour or bread.
A UK food safety panel is recommending that the mandatory addition
of folic acid should be made at the milling stage rather than at
the manufacturing stage, shifting the cost burden to suppliers.
The UK's Food Standards Agency has launched a final consultation
into mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid - an action
that coincides with publication of the SACN recommendation to press
ahead with the measure.
When the idea of fortifying staple foods with vital nutrients is
raised, the battlecry goes up from industry groups and advocates of
consumer choice: "Why should we bear the costs?" "Educate, and
let people make their...
Despite the introduction of mandatory folic acid fortification of
grains as much as a third of women of childbearing age are not
getting the recommended amounts, says a study from Canada.
The debate over folic acid fortification of bread took a new turn
this week, thanks to a study from Sweden which suggests that low
folate levels may guard against colorectal cancer.
The majority of Malaysian women lack folate in their diets, raising
their risk of having children with birth defects, says an
independent study sponsored by dairy group Fonterra.
Fortifying milk with folic acid offers an accessible source of the
vitamin, report Dutch researchers who tested bioavailability of the
nutrient in a clinical trial.
Breakfast cereals fortified with folic acid and other B vitamins
could help consumers protect against heart disease by lowering
levels of homocysteine, suggests new research. The amino acid
homocysteine is increasingly accepted as...
Evidence continues to mount suggesting a link between various
stages of depression and low blood levels of the B vitamin folate,
according to research funded by the Agricultural Research Service
in the US.
