Fortified bread gets OK despite health worry

The Government is pushing ahead with the mandatory fortification of bread with folic acid, despite admitting to health concerns over the practice.

Food Safety Minister Kate Wilkinson said yesterday that from September bakers will be required by law to add folic acid to bread under the new New Zealand-Australia food standard.

The standard was signed by former Labour food safety minister Annette King in 2007. She described it at the time as "a triumph for humanity and common sense".

The addition of folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects in babies. All bread except organic and unleavened bread must contain between 80 and 180 micrograms of folic acid per 100 grams.

Some research in Britain and Ireland links use of folic acid as a dietary supplement to a growing incidence of several types of cancer.

Irish health authorities recommended in March putting fortification of bread on hold pending further work.

Wilkinson said she was "not a fan" of the folic acid requirement and shared concerns about the potential health risks of adding folate to bread.

The compulsory aspect went against National's philosophy of personal choice, she said, but the Government had no choice but to implement it as it was a joint operation with Australia approved by the previous government.

"Annette King led the charge to have mandatory fortification throughout New Zealand and Australia and ignored widespread public opposition, as well as advice from industry," Wilkinson said.

"New Zealand is part of a joint-standard system with Australia which is enshrined in both treaty and legislation, and we take these responsibilities seriously."

Bakers' Association president Laurie Powell said bakers would begin preparations to implement the standard, but they believed it amounted to "mass medicating" New Zealanders in return for saving a small number of babies born each year with a neural tube defect.

"The minister's plan is bad science and defies logic. The minister recently confirmed that the pregnant women she is targeting will need to eat 11 slices of bread a day to get their recommended dose of folic acid," he said.

"Women statistically aren't big bread eaters.

"Targeting the small number of women at risk with folic acid supplements is a much more effective strategy than blasting the entire New Zealand population."

Bakers had suggested to the Government voluntarily fortifying a range of breads and supplementing the move with an advertising campaign, but that had been rejected, Powell said.

Bakers wanted Wilkinson to delay implementation of the standard, using her authority under the Food Act, until concerns had been further investigated, he said.

Wilkinson said she could not do that without jeopardising the trans-Tasman relationship, but she had asked officials to explore options with their Australian counterparts for varying the standard.

"We've been left with the mess and we're trying to work within the standard to see what our options are," Wilkinson said.

The New Zealand Organisation for Rare Disorders said the Government should "stand by sound science and public health interests" and implement the standard.

The organisation said the bakers' arguments were selfish and lacked moral or economic justification.

It said between 80 and 130 babies died or were seriously disabled by neural tube defects each year.

"Most of these deaths or serious disabilities would be preventable by simply adding a trace of vitamin to replace what is stripped out of the wheat in the milling process," it said.

Labour health spokeswoman Ruth Dyson said her party was pleased the Government was going through with the introduction of folic acid to bread.