Folic acid in flour may reduce birth defects

Research has shown that adding folic acid to bread via white and brown wheat flour would help cut neural tube defects (NTDs), which leave people severely disabled.

Up to 900 pregnancies are affected by NTDs including spina bifida every year, with most diagnosed women opting for abortions.

Supplementation with folic acid is advised from prior to conception until the 12th week of pregnancy, but the fact that approximately half of all pregnancies are unplanned limits the value of this recommendation.

Mandatory fortification has been introduced in the US, Canada and Chile, where it cut NTD rates by between 27% and 50%. But there is some scientific evidence that there could be unwanted side effects.

The addition of the vitamin to all flour would be the first mandatory fortification of a food since the Second World War.