UK to Introduce Folic Acid into Flour to Quell Birth Defects

The United Kingdom will be fortifying its flour with folic acid in an effort to stunt the rising number of newborns with severe and deadly birth defects, the Guardian reported Sunday.

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Despite initial reservations about folic fortification, Prime Minister Theresa May has approved of the motion which experts say could have prevented two decades of neural tube defects caused by a supplement deficiency in pregnant women.

“A government decision to introduce mandatory fortification will mean a major positive impact for the health and well-being of babies born in the future. In many cases, it will be the difference between life and death,” said Chief Executive Kate Steele of Shine, a charity facility that supports families affected by birth defects.

In the U.K., at least two children are born with spina bifida (an underdeveloped spinal cord) or anencephaly (an open or underdeveloped skull) every week, while similar birth defects are detected in one in every 1,000 U.K. pregnancies, an academic report said.

Pontypridd parliamentary minister, Owen Smith, told BBC, “Every day two pregnancies are terminated as a result of a diagnosis of spina bifida. We've known now for 20-plus years that we could at least halve those numbers if we did the simple thing and mandatorily fortify flour with folic acid.

Steele said, “Mandatory fortification will be a gamechanger for the U.K.”

Over 80 countries have adopted the health initiative, including the U.S. which reports a 23 percent reduction in serious birth defects since 1998. Despite medical advice to increase folic acid supplements, reports show that expecting women, especially in low-income homes, are still folate-deficient.

U.K. public health official, Dr. Alison Tedstone, said, “Three-quarters of 16- to 49-year-old women have folic acid levels below the new World Health Organization recommendation for women entering pregnancy.”

In the U.K., white flour is already fortified with iron, calcium and the B vitamins niacin and thiamin.

Medical professionals in neonatal and gynecological care say that fortifying folic acid into flour poses no risk to public health and will be a “safe and effective” measure to reduce neural tube defects.

NHS doctor and Conservative Party Parliamentarian, Dan Poulter, said, “It is good to see that medical evidence has prevailed over political considerations and that the health of mothers and their babies has overcome the previously successful attempts by vested business interests complaining to government about the regulatory and cost burden to businesses. The lives and health of babies is what matters.”