Food manufacturers could be forced to use folic acid as a preventive measure for spinal defects

Since folic acid is a vitamin that occurs naturally in green vegetables but cannot be stored in the body, expectant mums and those trying to conceive have had no choice but to take it as a supplement.

 

However, health experts think that making this vitamin a mandatory additive to food will ensure pregnant women are getting the right nutrients to prevent their little one from being born with spinal defects.

 

According to official figures, up to 900 UK babies are affected by defects like spina bifida on a yearly basis, but the Food Standards Agency has advised the Government that up to a third of these babies could be saved from similar deformities if women consumed more folic acid.

 

Debate over whether or not the Government should force food manufacturers to include this vitamin in basic food has been going on for years because some warn that a move like this could have adverse effects on the elderly who suffer from anaemia.

 

The British Medical Association however, says folic acid is particularly important for a foetus when it reaches 28 days old, and in most cases, women may not even know they may be pregnant at this stage.

 

No decision will be made until later on this year after the publication of a report into how much of this vitamin people absorb naturally.  For the meantime, we’ll have to keep taking our supplements.