1400 pregnancies in the UK are affected by Neural Tube Defects, Scientific Symposium on Folic Acid reveals.

There are an estimated 1,420 pregnancies in the UK affected by Neural Tube Defects each year, 90 per cent of which result in termination. Fortification of flour in the UK could prevent approximately 300 pregnancies a year from being affected by neural tube defects (NTD) revealed Dr Joan Morris, of Queen Mary's Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine this week.

Speaking at a scientific symposium to improve the nation's health and prevent birth defects, Dr Morris, along with leading experts in spina bifida, preventive medicine, genetics and cardiovascular disease from the UK, USA and Ireland, presented evidence on the health effects of the vitamin folic acid.

The symposium, chaired by biologist Baroness Walmsley and held at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, (part of Barts and the London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry), was addressed by speakers who made a compelling case for mandatory flour fortification in the UK, recommending adding folic acid to micro-nutrients such as iron and calcium, which are already mixed into flour.

The USA and 38 other countries have introduced flour fortification and achieved significant health benefits, including reductions in heart disease and stroke. The latest nation to propose fortification is the Republic of Ireland, which, with the UK, has among the highest rates of spina bifida in the world. Ireland would be the first EU state to adopt the measure.

Executive Director of The Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, Andrew Russell, commented:

“The Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the UK is at present not recommending fortification, and has not endorsed the advice of the scientific committee, COMA, that supported fortification because of a fear over possible adverse effects.

"However, it was pointed out at the symposium that there was no evidence of harm from fortification. Moreover since many Americans have taken high doses of folic acid for many years, there is over a billion person-years of experience of folic acid supplementation, with no evidence of any harm from the vitamin.”

The UK's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, which was represented at the symposium, is currently considering the matter and will advise the Government.

Download the Folic Acid Symposium Report