About Folic Acid

ASBAH is actively campaigning the UK Food standards Agency (FSA), to introduce the compulsory addition of folic acid into UK flour products to prevent up to 1,000 terminations of spina bifida affected pregnancies each year.

Good evidence is now available from the United States, Canada, Chile and other countries, on the benefits to the population of flour fortification with folic acid, and the dramatic reduction of neural tube defects

It is now more than a decade since the UK’s Medical Research Council completed a UK funded, world renowned study proving the lack of folic acid causes spina bifida. Many other countries have now followed the advice of COMA, the UK’s Committee on Medical Aspects of Nutrition, and fortified flour.

There is now overwhelming evidence that the folic acid vitamin also prevents a large number of deaths from heart disease and stroke. There is an almost universal deficiency in the vitamin folic acid in most countries of the world.

ASBAH calls for the immediate implementation of COMA’s recommendations and urges the FSA to take an interest in this issue.