Folic acid is not folate

I think it's very difficult to overdose on folic acid and you can avoid it by eating wholemeal bread tbh I'd be more concerned about the additives that are put in to help factory production and the preservatives to keep it from going stale. We make our own bread using a bread maker, use decent flour, nothing else is added except the basic ingredients. I make sourdough by hand and that's the same. Sadly not everyone has a good diet and if adding folic acid to white bread flour stops some babies from being born with spina bifida, then I think it's an acceptable risk.

Flour ‘fortification’ chalk supply presents a risk to the UK food system
www.sustainweb.org/blogs/dec24-flour-fortification-chalk-supply-presents-a-risk-to-the-uk-food-system/

Spina Bifida is a dreadful thing where the backbone does not develop properly round the spine because of folic acid deficiency in early pregnancy often before the mother even knows she is pregnant.
That is why it is added to flour in very small amounts so that spina bifida is prevented.
There is no cure only treatment.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/spina-bifida/

I've been taking folic acid on prescription for nearly 20 years with no problems.

My Dh was given folic acid as part of his chemo regime, to counter some of the unwanted side effects.

www.ukflourmillers.org/knowledge-hub/standards-regulations/bread-flour-regulations/folic-acid

dailybread.co.uk/about-us/daily-bread-blog/folic-acid-in-flour-what-is-changing-and-which-flours-are-affected

www.gov.uk/government/publications/folic-acid/folic-acid

butterandjam

kircubbin2000
It's being added to wholemeal from Dec. I tried the spelt loaf today and nearly broke a tooth.
No, it will not be added to wholemeal flour.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/folic-acid/folic-acid

I did attempt to explain that it will NOT be added to 100% wholewheat flour.

kircubbin2000

It's being added to wholemeal from Dec. I tried the spelt loaf today and nearly broke a tooth.

No, it will not be added to wholemeal flour.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/folic-acid/folic-acid

So I’ve had a whistle stop tour of this.

Firstly, there are already “synthetic” vitamins and minerals added to our flours and cereals and has been done for several years.

Secondly Canada has added it for decades and has seen many advantages and few disadvantages.

Thirdly, the levels being proposed and add to all non-wholewheat flours are the absolute minimal required to assist a fetus, but not generally high enough to aid the increased production of cancer cells.

Finally, there are many ways around this for those of you who vehemently object to this, you will have to shop around, but 100% whole meal flour IS exempt (many commercially prepared whole meal bread, is in fact a mix of white and whole meal flour), also certain artisan bakeries are also exempt and certain imports from EU countries where this addition to flour isn’t mandatory. So you will still be able to acquire both flour and bread without the added folic acid.

I do understand both posters and Dr Craig’s concerns, but personally I don’t think the evidenced provided is strong enough to outweigh the clear advantages.

I’m afraid I don’t subscribe to the term “no mass medication”, simply because it’s already been happening in this country for decades, with breakfast cereals and bread, amongst other things.

I used to work with a young lady who had spina bifada, she was very lucky in her own overall outcome, others are not so fortunate and have to have lifetime care.

In terms of MMR, many babies are very very unwell with measles and can die.

Due to low MMR vaccine uptake, measles is still very much around.

We are very lucky to have the choice in this country, some countries won’t accept children into schools unvaccinated, in third world countries children die every day due to lack of many childhood vaccines.

undines

Thank you for this Baggs, it's great to see something so useful on Gransnet. Dr Craig is by no means a lone voice in this, many experts are very worried, and it's not going to be that easy to avoid, as I understand it's going to be added to more stuff. As for the MMR, many experts also endorse that, as did Wakefield's colleagues at the time until the drug companies scared them into retracting their support. Just because something is endorsed by the Establishment does not make it safe - remember thalidomide?

I do remember thalidomide as my mother was offered it and declined.

It is still used today but under very strict controls and obviously never given to pregnant women.

In the case of folic acid, this clearly won’t be a problem for pregnant women.

There are often very opposing medical reports, all well researched and all peer approved.

Thank you for this Baggs, it's great to see something so useful on Gransnet. Dr Craig is by no means a lone voice in this, many experts are very worried, and it's not going to be that easy to avoid, as I understand it's going to be added to more stuff. As for the MMR, many experts also endorse that, as did Wakefield's colleagues at the time until the drug companies scared them into retracting their support. Just because something is endorsed by the Establishment does not make it safe - remember thalidomide?

Folic acid is neither a drug or a chemical (in the usual use of the term).

So true Sandye. Think of butter, no longer tantamount to poison.

Maybe in a few years the thinking will have changed again and it will be the best thing to have been thought of. If you wait long enough everything is good/bad for you in turn depending on who is doing the research. Its easy to say well we know better now but that may be said in another 20 years about what is very good for you now. Everything in moderation.

I check all the ingredients in the wholemeal bread now but they don't have to declare folic acid added until December 6th, its so bad for people with cancer and Vitamin D absence as it cannot be detected.

Just fyi. Flouride is not usually added to tap water in the UK.

Can anyone tell me why chalk is added to flour, and in what proprtion? I've often wondered but am only now bothering to ask.

We're a forum that is generally pro-women's rights & surely this is a good move for women - not all pregnancies are planned, not everyone knows they are pregnant in time to get good levels of folate at the early stage their baby needs it.

But nearly all eat flour products.

For a principle ("no mass medication") you'd condemn some women to the guilt of an avoidable birth defect & the baby to a lot of early operations and probable residual disability too?

Did you also know that Calcium Carbonate is added to a lot of commercial flour. Were you aware that this is chalk? No wonder the cakes don't rise as they used to!!

See the petition to stop the Folic Acid mandatory change. Unfortunately some millers add to all bread and it is operationally easier.

This will be found on many many products such as sausages etc

Petition: End the mandatory fortification of white flour with folic acid immediately

We call on the Government to stop the fortification of flour with synthetic folic acid. Folic acid is a medicine not a food. We believe it is unethical to mass medicate the entire population without their knowledge or consent in the hope that a minority group of people might see a benefit.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/769589

Colls

It's a DISGRACE to add this artificial chemical into our flour. Possibly good of a small minority of the population but we are all to be dosed with it.
It's known to be bad for cancer patients. Also, with flour in most items you get in a supermarket, there is no control of the dose anyone gets.
Most people don't know about it now will understand the implications.
More money for big pharma at the expense of our health.

NHS says:
public health reviews note that the tiny amount of synthetic folic acid added to flour (such as 250 micrograms per 100g of flour) is designed to meet basic nutritional needs without causing harm. There is NO solid evidence that normal dietary intake from fortified bread causes cancer or accelerates tumor growth

Immediately following the mandate (Oct 1998–Dec 1999)
-28% reduction in overall neural tube defect prevalence
- spina bifida prevalence dropped by 31%.

Severity Reduction:
Case severity decreased by 70%, driven largely by a drop in more severe upper-spine lesions

Enough said?

It's a DISGRACE to add this artificial chemical into our flour. Possibly good of a small minority of the population but we are all to be dosed with it.
It's known to be bad for cancer patients. Also, with flour in most items you get in a supermarket, there is no control of the dose anyone gets.
Most people don't know about it now will understand the implications.
More money for big pharma at the expense of our health.

It’s not in gluten free flour or bread. I’d never thought about it before this thread, but I checked, and it’s exempt.