UK report recommends fortification of flour with folate
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《英国医生杂志》
A UK draft report has recommended introducing mandatory fortification of flour with folate to prevent the development of neural tube defects in fetuses during pregnancy. It also calls for better efforts to monitor and treat vitamin B-12 deficiency in elderly people, because if fortification is introduced a high intake of folate can mask the symptoms of the deficiency.
The report published this week by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, an independent expert committee that advises the Food Standards Agency and health departments, reviewed all the available evidence on folate (a generic term for compounds exhibiting the activity of folic acid) and human health published up to October 2005.
Fortification with folate, which is found in spinach (above), is recommended to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects
Credit: WWW.PHOTGOS.COM
The call for folate in flour comes because the number of pregnancies in which neural tube defects occurred in the United Kingdom has not declined over the past few years, despite greater awareness of the benefits of taking folic acid supplements.
An estimated 551 to 590 pregnancies with neural tube defects occurred in England and Wales in 2002. Had flour been fortified with folate there would have been 156 fewer affected fetuses, the report says.
A previous UK review of the issue (by the Food Standards Agency in 2002) decided against fortifying flour with folic acid because of concerns that it could mask vitamin B-12 deficiency, by treating anaemia associated with the deficiency but failing to prevent the progression of neurological symptoms that lead to irreversible damage.(Susan Mayor)
The report published this week by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, an independent expert committee that advises the Food Standards Agency and health departments, reviewed all the available evidence on folate (a generic term for compounds exhibiting the activity of folic acid) and human health published up to October 2005.
Fortification with folate, which is found in spinach (above), is recommended to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects
Credit: WWW.PHOTGOS.COM
The call for folate in flour comes because the number of pregnancies in which neural tube defects occurred in the United Kingdom has not declined over the past few years, despite greater awareness of the benefits of taking folic acid supplements.
An estimated 551 to 590 pregnancies with neural tube defects occurred in England and Wales in 2002. Had flour been fortified with folate there would have been 156 fewer affected fetuses, the report says.
A previous UK review of the issue (by the Food Standards Agency in 2002) decided against fortifying flour with folic acid because of concerns that it could mask vitamin B-12 deficiency, by treating anaemia associated with the deficiency but failing to prevent the progression of neurological symptoms that lead to irreversible damage.(Susan Mayor)