Folic acid in flour debate unresolved

The food industry is dismayed at continued confusion over how the fortification of flour with folic acid will be made mandatory.

The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) board has referred back to the executive the “mechanism” by which it could enforce the move to achieve a targeted reduction in neural tube defects (NTDs) in babies.

Sources within the industry described the outcome as “confused” and “a mess”. They had hoped a clear decision would be made, thus removing continuing uncertainty by millers, plant bakers and the cake and confectionery sector in general.

One even suggested it reopened the need to consider the levels at which folic acid would need to be added. They argued that remodelling of data was necessary to ensure those whose intake was above the upper limit was not increased. The modelling data presented to the FSA board did not take account of voluntary fortification of products that already occurred.

However, the director of the Federation of Bakers Gordon Polson said after the referral last week: “We are happy to talk to them about how they can implement that.”

Following the decision by FSA board at its meeting in May​ to go-ahead with fortification in principle, it had been hoped that the decision on whether to fortify at the milling or breadmaking stage would be made at its June board meeting.

The FSA executive had recommended that the board’s advice to UK Health Ministers, who will have the final say about fortification, should be that mandatory fortification is approved for all white and brown wheat flours. Other proposals were that folic acid in these products should be labelled; and that there could be a threshold for labelling where folic acid levels were nutritionally insignificant, at about 5% recommended nutritional intake.

In the event, after detailed discussion by the board, the FSA chair Dame Deidre Hutton asked the executive to come back with a firm proposal, which met the aim of reducing NTD-affected pregnancies by 11-18%, representing 77 to 162 a year. She asked that this be achieved simply in regulatory terms without increasing the numbers of people with intakes above the upper limit by controls on voluntary fortification; ensuring maximum consumer choice; and not “disadvantaging” industry.

The executive is still expected to recommend that all white and brown wheat flour is fortified (excluding wholemeal wheat flour). This would cover flours used to make cakes and biscuits, something the Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionery Association is against on the grounds that it would adversely affect its members’ exports. However, some board members dismissed this objection, suggesting that they could easily source flours without folic acid for their export products.

“Public health is the primary issue, rather than impact on industry and exports,” said Hutton. “We have agreed a set of outcomes, but delegate the mechanism to the executive.”