Food fortification: A national committee examining whether foods should be fortified with folic acid in an attempt to reduce the number of children born with neural tube defects such as spina bifida is now asking the public for its views.
It has been proven that taking folic acid, a B vitamin, for four weeks before and 12 weeks after a woman conceives can help reduce the risk of her having a child with a neural tube defect.
However, because close to half of all pregnancies in the Republic are unplanned, many women are not taking folic acid before conceiving.
The National Committee on Folic Acid Food Fortification said yesterday that the State currently has one of the highest incidence of neural tube defects in Europe. Approximately 1 to 1.5 in every 1,000 births are affected, the equivalent of 67 births in 2004.
Because women of childbearing age only get an average of 30 micrograms of folic acid every day in their diet (the optimal level to help reduce the risk of neural tube defects is 400 micrograms per day) there has been much discussion about whether mandatory fortification of foods with folic acid might be the best solution. This approach has already been recommended by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
In 1996 the USA and Canada introduced mandatory fortification of all flour with folic acid. This has succeeded in reducing the number of neural tube defect births, with the highest success rate in Newfoundland where a reduction of 78 per cent in such births has been reported.
The National Committee on Folic Acid Food Fortification outlines three policy options for consideration and anyone with an interest is urged to make their views known to the FSAI before June 24th.
The options include mandatory fortification of flour, allowing flour millers and bakers voluntarily add specified levels of folic acid to bread which would then carry a special logo and a health claim, or continuing with the current practice of intermittent health promotion campaigns on the need for women to take a folic acid supplement.
After members of the public have submitted their views the committee will make a recommendation to the Minister for Health Mary Harney.
Maureen Lynott, chairwoman of the committee said women of childbearing age are urged to take a folic acid supplement and to eat high-folate foods but research shows only one in five pregnant women take a folic acid supplement and over a third consume no folic acid at all.
The consultation document can be found at www.folicacid.ie