Irish Examiner view: Supplementing our daily bread is the right move

Including folic acid in a dietary staple will help to prevent conditions such as spina bifida in babies

Reports that Britain is committed to adding folic acid to flour as an aid to reducing the numbers of birth defects means that our nearest neighbours are falling in line with practices that are common in other advanced countries including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

It is somewhat of a surprise that this suggestion, which has been on the table for a number of years, has not been implemented already such is the support it engenders among doctors who believe that including the vitamin can prevent life-threatening spinal conditions among babies by lowering the incidence of neural tube defects in hundreds of cases.