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MRC welcomes FSA decision to add folic acid to flour
MRC welcomes FSA decision to add folic acid to flour
17 May 2007
The Medical Research Council (MRC) has welcomed the Food
Standards Agency’s (FSA) decision to recommend the mandatory
fortification of flour with folic acid.
The decision was informed by an international clinical trial
conducted by the MRC, published in 1991, which showed that giving
pregnant women supplements of folic acid reduced the risk of major
birth defects of the brain and spine. These neural tube defects
such as spina bifida are relatively common and often fatal.
According to the FSA, countries including the USA, Chile and
Canada have already fortified flour with folic acid. Since the USA
introduced the measure around ten years ago, it has seen a drop of
more than a quarter in such birth defects.
Read this
press release in full on the MRC website
Last Update Date : 7/6/2009
