Decision due on folic acid in food

Increasing women's intake of the B vitamin will help cut the number of birth defects such as spina bifida, the watchdog says.

Papers for the FSA's London board meeting say all white and brown wheat flour should be fortified. If made compulsory, the measure would affect flours used to make bread and other products such as cakes and biscuits.

The FSA's board will decide whether to recommend the move to health ministers.

Products containing fortified flour should be labelled to show they contain folic acid, the board papers say.

And the potential for a labelling threshold should be looked into for products where folic acid levels are not "nutritionally significant".

The food watchdog last month agreed to recommend that folic acid should be added to bread or flour. But the FSA's board members wanted more time to decide exactly which food would be fortified.

Women who plan to get pregnant are already advised to increase their folate intake because it helps prevent neural tube defects (NTDs) such as spina bifida in unborn babies. But this strategy is not effective because about half of pregnancies are unplanned.

At last month's meeting, the FSA board said new controls on the voluntary addition of folic acid to food by manufacturers would be essential if fortification was made compulsory.

A final decision on whether food will be compulsorily fortified with folic acid will rest with the Government.