UK flour ‘should be fortified with folic acid to prevent birth defects’

New research has indicated that flour sold in the UK should be fortified with folic acid as a means of preventing birth defects.

A study from the Queen Mary University of London and the School of Advanced Study at the University of London has indicated that there is no need for an upper limit of folate intake, with current guidance on maximum limits potentially based on flawed analysis.

Prior studies have shown that increasing folic acid intake immediately before and early in pregnancy can prevent most cases of neural tube defects, including anencephaly and spina bifida.

As a result, 81 countries have introduced mandatory folic acid fortification of cereals, resulting in the number of neural tube defects decreasing by up to a half in these nations. However, the UK has not followed suit due to concerns that excess folate intake can cause neurological damage.

The new paper calls this idea into question by re-analysing the results of the studies used to support this conclusion. It was determined that any neurological damage observed during these trials was caused by improperly-treated vitamin B12 deficiencies, rather than folic acid.

Professor Sir Nicholas Wald, from the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine at Queen Mary, concluded: "Failing to fortify flour with folic acid to prevent neural tube defects is like having a polio vaccine and not using it."

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