Most breads to be fortified with folic acid to benefit babies

MOST white, brown and wholemeal breads on sale in Ireland will be fortified with folic acid to benefit babies by the middle of next year, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said yesterday.

Ireland plans to follow the United States by adding folic acid to flour to prevent severe birth defects, such as spina bifida, that can develop in babies during the first weeks of pregnancy.

A recent study has found that consumers will get a safe folic boost from the flour.

Dr Mary Rose Sweeney from the Department of Public Health in University College Dublin and her colleagues from Trinity College Dublin found that average consumption of folic acid from fortified flour at current mandated US levels of 100 micrograms a day will be safe. Even at double the level, the bread will still be safe to eat.

Last July the Government-appointed National Committee on Folic Acid Food Fortification recommended mandatory fortification at a level of 120 micrograms per 100g of bread.

It is reckoned that up to a quarter of pregnancies affected by neural tube defects will be prevented by the level of folic acid bread fortification recommended.

However, the Department of Health will still be advising women of childbearing age to take 400 micrograms of folic acid a day, as is the case in the US. Consumers may also get folic acid from other dietary sources, such as fortified cereals.

Women should take folic acid supplements at least 14 weeks before conception and for at least the 12 weeks of the pregnancy.

FSAI deputy chief executive Alan Reilly said it was planned that most breads would be fortified with folic acid by the middle of next year. He said that folic acid is added to up to 20% of bread at the moment.

Mr Reilly added that some bread products and flour would not be fortified to allow for consumer choice.

Taking folic acid supplements before and after conception reduces the risk of neural tube defects by up to 70%.

Ireland currently has one of the highest incident rates of neural tube defects in Europe, a condition that affects more than one in a 1,000 births per year.

Because close to half of all pregnancies in Ireland are unplanned, many women are not taking folic acid before conceiving.

The mandatory fortification of flour for bread-making will require a change in legislation.

Mr Reilly said he expected that the fortified bread would be on the shelves by the middle of next year, at the latest.