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<\/p>\nBakers and millers say their customers are asking why folic acid is now being put into their products.<\/p>\n
The government is giving manufacturers until the end of 2026 to conform to the new legal requirement, announced in 2024, that folic acid should be added to non-wholemeal wheat flour.<\/p>\n
Shipton Mill, in Tetbury, said it had been receiving “20 emails a week” about the issue while Hobbs House Bakery, which has stores in Gloucestershire and Bristol, has had questions about it on social media.<\/p>\n
The government said the move could prevent about 200 cases of issues such as spina bifida in newborns every year.<\/p>\n
More from GloucestershireWhat is folic acid?<\/p>\n
Folic acid is a man-made version of vitamin B9, which is also known as folate.<\/p>\n
A person’s body requires folate to make DNA and other genetic material.<\/p>\n
The human body cannot synthesise B9 in sufficient amounts so folic acid is considered essential and must come mainly from diet.<\/p>\n
It is found in leafy green vegetables as well as eggs and beef liver but many people often do not get enough of it naturally.<\/p>\n
Folic acid is particularly vital during early pregnancy because it helps a baby’s neural tube [which becomes the brain and spinal cord] to develop.<\/p>\n
“If you don’t have enough folic acid your baby can be born with a nerve system defect,” said Dr Vicky Blackburn, a GP partner at the Willow Tree surgery in Stonehouse.<\/p>\n
Why is it important in pregnancy?<\/p>\n
Dr Blackburn said women need to have good folic acid levels in the first three months of pregnancy.<\/p>\n
“The baby’s nervous system develops very, very quickly,” she said.<\/p>\n
Taking supplements to top up folic acid levels provides a solution but “life is not often like that and most pregnancy timings are unplanned”, she added.<\/p>\n
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it expected about 200 cases of neural tube deficiency – serious birth defects of the brain, spine, and spinal cord – to be prevented as a result of this move.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the department also said it would save the NHS “\u00a320m over 10 years and boost the economy by more than \u00a390m over 10 years”.<\/p>\n
What has the reaction been?<\/p>\n
Emily Oakley, who works at Hobbs House Bakery, said there had been a “mixed reaction” [BBC]<\/p>\n
Many millers had already been putting folic acid into their white flour ahead of the requirement.<\/p>\n
Shipton Mill said their email inbox had been full with customers “concerned” about the move.<\/p>\n
Hobbs House Bakery, which is based in Chipping Sodbury but has shops in Nailsworth, Tetbury and Bristol, said it had put a post about folic acid being added to its bread on social media.<\/p>\n
The bakery said there was a “mixed reaction” to the post.<\/p>\n
“It’s been a trend over the last couple of years that people are more interested and more aware of what’s going into their food,” Emily Oakley, from the bakery, said.<\/p>\n
She said the bakery was keen not to “hide anything” from its customers.<\/p>\n
What is the expert view?<\/p>\n
There have been calls to completely abandon the practice, with a petition gaining more than 50,000 signatures.<\/p>\n
The petition stated that those with B12 deficiency and certain cancers should avoid folic acid, describing it as “unethical to mass medicate the entire population”.<\/p>\n
Dr Blackburn said she understood that people liked “to have control over what goes into their bodies” but she said she believed the benefits outweighed the risks.<\/p>\n
“Essentially there is no evidence that having extra folic acid in flour is going to cause any ill health in anyone,” she said.<\/p>\n
Other countries such as Canada and the US have been putting folic acid into flour for years and have seen a drop in birth defects.<\/p>\n
The DHSC said the new regulations would help provide women with a higher baseline intake of folic acid thus “better protecting their babies in all scenarios”.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the government department said: “Our number one priority is the health of children.<\/p>\n
“Scientists have carefully worked out the right amount [of folic acid] to add, so it’s both effective and safe.”<\/p>\n
They added that the decision was based on “longstanding, independent, expert advice” and followed “extensive” public consultation.<\/p>\n
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