Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent consultations they have undertaken with the Northern Ireland authorities about changing regulations to allow folic acid to be added to flour.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland and Wales, Food Standards Scotland and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales are jointly conducting a review of The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 and The Bread and Flour (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1998. This is to ensure the Regulations are fit for purpose and support industry in the United Kingdom, while protecting consumers.

Officials from each nation have been in continuous discussion through the review and are preparing to consult on proposals to update the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998, including the implementation of the Government’s plans to introduce the addition of folic acid to non-wholemeal flour.