Flour: Folic Acid

(asked on 8th December 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government following the joint letter from the Scottish Government’s Minister for Public Health and Sport and the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services to the Secretary of State for Health on 1 December, whether they have any plans to introduce mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid on a UK-wide basis to help reduce neural tube defects in unborn babies.


Answered by
Lord O'Shaughnessy Portrait
Lord O'Shaughnessy
This question was answered on 20th December 2017

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) recently updated the evidence on folic acid in response to a request from Food Standards Scotland and reiterated its support for mandatory folic acid fortification of United Kingdom flour, provided that this is introduced alongside restrictions on voluntary fortification of foods with folic acid. Ministers are currently considering SACN’s recommendations on mandatory fortification.

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are a serious issue. To help those who may have inadequate folate levels through their diet, the Department provides general advice and health education messages in a range of settings targeted at women of childbearing age to encourage the use of folic acid supplements both pre- and post-conception. Information is also available online via NHS Choices including advice on seeing a healthcare professional as early in pregnancy as possible and that women should take 400 micrograms of folic acid every day prior to conception, and in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, to help prevent NTDs.

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