Experts back folic acid in bread

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) will recommend the measure to health ministers as a means of reducing birth defects. Its board unanimously backed the compulsory addition of the synthetic form of the B vitamin folate to bread or flour.

Between 700 and 900 pregnancies per year in the UK are affected by neural tube defects (NTDs), such as spina bifida. Adding folic acid to bread or flour would cut that number and improve the health of some 13 million UK consumers who don't eat enough of it, the FSA said.

Medical Research Council chief executive Professor Colin Blakemore backed the FSA's decision, saying: "This is good news. There is clear evidence that folic acid prevents devastating birth defects and it is good to see this important British discovery moving into public health policy here."

The FSA's board also wants new controls on the voluntary addition of folic acid to breakfast cereals and spreads to prevent excessive consumption. And it is calling for clearer advice to people taking folic acid supplements.

The board will meet next month discuss whether folic acid should be added to all flour or only to bread. It will also decide how the compulsorily fortified products should be labelled.

The FSA will make its final set of recommendations to health ministers after next month's meeting.

The decision follows a long-running debate on the pros and cons of compulsory fortification of food with folic acid. The FSA board rejected the measure five years ago due to lack of available evidence about possible risks and benefits.

But Dame Deirdre Hutton, Chair of the FSA's board, said the FSA was now "unanimous" in its support. "The board recognises that this move, as part of a package of measures, will help prevent birth defects in pregnancy and have wider health benefits for the rest of the population. The board was also reassured by the significant science that the benefits outweigh any potential risks."

Help the Aged gave a more cautious response, with a spokesman saying: "We recognise that folic acid supplementation can provide significant benefits in preventing neural tube defects, however, there are ethical issues that need to be carefully considered."