Scientists from Queen Mary University of London and the University of London want folic acid added to flour in the UK as they claim it will help protect babies from neural tube defects – anencephaly and spina bifida, which affect one in every 500 - 1,000 pregnancies.
According to the scientists, while women who could become pregnant are advised to take a daily folic acid supplement, many do not do so.
Despite successive recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, and the reduction of neural tube defects in babies in countries that fortify cereals with folic acid, the UK has not introduced mandatory fortification. One reasons given is that this might lead to increased intake of folic acid, a B vitamin, above maximum levels, known as an ‘upper limit’, suggested in 1998 by the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) – now the National Academy of Medicine.
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