Folic Acid: New Research is a ‘Gamechanger’ in Push to Fortify British Foods

According to studies, decreasing the amount of folic acid in the diet has been linked to neural tube defects. Over 80 countries have asked women to increase folic acid in their diets to decrease their chances of having birth defects. The UK had not adopted the minimum requirements for women who intend to become pregnant or during early pregnancy, but past evidence has shown based on the number of daily abortions and weekly births in the UK that the adoption of folic acid requirements should be set to minimize the number of birth defects, just like the other countries who have adopted these dietary limits. On the contrary, a Professor at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine did not believe that folic acid needed to be increased because there was not enough evidence to support the results. The government in the UK has yet to implement informing women to increase their daily intake of folic acid in their diets to lessen their chances of birth defects. Folic acid and the B9 vitamin of folate helps a woman to increase her chances in attempting to conceive a child, as well as having a normal pregnancy. Example foods that contain folic acid and the folate B9 vitamin are cereals brands like Kellogg’s, rice, wheat, oats, buckwheat, barley, rye, spelt, quinoa, beans, pasta, green vegetables, orange juice and, if required, supplementation.

Key Points:

  • 1According to research, bread and flour in the UK should be fortified with Folic Acid to prevent birth defects such as Spina Bifida.
  • 2Despite the recommendation, the UK has not introduced laws to make the fortification of bread and flour manditory.
  • 3In the UK, on a daily basis, women are terminating pregnancies due to birth defects and every week women are giving birth to a child that has a birth defect.


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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Written by HealthStatus
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our health risk assessment, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years.

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