Folic Acid: Debate Over Forced Fortification
Folic acid is shown to be helpful to pregnant women and the babies they are carrying. That little fact has been around for a bit now, and due to the success of the Canadian fortification of bread and pasta the British government wants to try it too.
In Quebec, after they started fortifying flour with folic acid heart defects in newborns fell drastically. They had quite a success with the move, so naturally others would like to try it as well.
Although a few of the UK’s government programs are jumping to incorporate this, there are a few groups that are still understandably hesitant. The concern expressed by some doctors explains why:
But others argue against this, saying it would inevitably harm some people.
The fear is that adding folic acid to products like bread could harm some elderly people if they are deficient in other B vitamins.In extreme cases, this can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system.
There is also concern that it may also increase the risk of certain cancers, including bowel cancer, in some people.
From The BBC
My take is simply, it doesn’t look like a mandatory all encompassing rule would be the best bet, perhaps instead simply offering an alternative product as opposed to changing all the existing products.
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