Some Food for Thought

As of last month, flour used for making bread in Australia must now contain folic acid (folate), a B-group vitamin.

Before you question why the government has mandated another additive in our food, ask yourself this: why are pregnant women and those hoping to conceive urged to take folate supplements?

It’s because we just don’t get enough folate in our diet to protect our babies from neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. These types of defects cause a wide range of disabilities. They’re very serious - and irreversible.

Folate is critical to the healthy development of the foetus during the first several weeks. The problem is that many women don’t realise they’re pregnant until it’s too late for folate to make a difference. Hundreds of babies in Australia are born with neural tube defects every year.

The Chief Scientist for Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) expects folate in bread-making flour to reduce the number of Australian babies born with neural tube defects by up to 14%.

Regulators mandated folate in bread-making flour simply because bread is eaten regularly by the vast majority of people, pregnant women and those wanting to conceive included. Added folate in anyone’s diet is in no way harmful. In fact, according to Professor Fiona Stanley of Perth’s Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, “there is growing evidence about the broader benefits of folate such as its impact in reducing some cancers and heart disease.”

You can read more comments from leading scientists about the mandatory addition of folate to bread here.

Cheers

Kate