LONDON, February 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Folic Acid Action (FAA)(1) is challenging concerns raised by
the Food Standards Agency (FSA) about the risk of excessive intake of folic
acid, amid fears that it may stop women planning a pregnancy from
supplementing their diet with this essential nutrient for the unborn child.
FAA is also highlighting how important it is that with or
without fortification, women who are trying to conceive must take additional
folic acid and says that current advice on this lacks clarity.
The FSA is calling for major food manufacturing companies to
reduce the folic acid in their products so that people who eat bread
fortified with folic acid - should the fortification plans go ahead - are not
at risk of excessive intake. It claims that without a reduction of folic acid
in fortified breakfast cereals and fat spreads, and a cap on the amount in
supplements, up to 380,000 who ate bread fortified with folic acid could be
consuming excessive quantities. 8,000 of these, the over 65s, could be at
elevated risk of bowel cancer says the FSA, which also warns that certain
types of anaemia in elderly patients may be masked by an elevated folic acid
intake.
Andrew Russell, chair of FAA and CEO of ASBAH(2) states:
"Folic acid is an essential vitamin and people generally do not get enough of
it! Most importantly, pregnant women need substantial extra folic acid and
should not rely on flour fortification alone - and they should ideally start
supplementation three months before conception and continue throughout the
first 12 weeks of pregnancy."
"Concerns over 'excessive levels of folic acid' are
unfounded," Russell continues. "No ill-effects or risks of folic acid have
been proven. No link of folic acid to cancer has been shown, other than a
possible preventative effect for some cancers. What's more, other evidence
indicates benefits of folic acid in reducing dementia in older people, and
preventing cardiovascular disease by reducing homocysteine levels.
"We really need to look at the bigger picture here to
understand that increasing folic acid in the population as a whole is likely
to have myriad benefits," Russell concludes.
Folic acid is a key nutrient in helping to prevent neural tube
defects (NTD) such as spina bifida, where the spine fails to develop properly
and leaves the spinal cord exposed. Spina bifida can lead to paralysis and,
often, a tendency to another condition - hydrocephalus - where fluid builds
up to dangerous levels in the brain and must be drained to prevent damage.
Both supplementation and flour fortification, as practised in
the USA, are needed to raise the background level of folic acid in the
population and prevent neural tube defect (NTD) pregnancies. Mandatory flour
fortification alone would help prevent 350-400 NTD pregnancies of the 1,100
that occur in the UK each year but supplementation would prevent many more
and also reduce elective terminations.
Further details of FAA and its campaign to ensure that all
women of childbearing age have adequate levels of folic acid intake are
available at http://www.microfolicacid.com/faa
References
---------------------------------
(1) Folic Acid Action (FAA) is an expert panel of healthcare
professionals and a patient organisations which was formed in 2004 to address
some of the key issues regarding awareness on folic acid, to help reduce the
incidence of babies born with birth defects
(2) The Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.
http://www.asbah.org
Folic Acid Action
