A GOVERNMENT decision to delay adding folic acid into British flour has been condemned by a city charity.
The Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (ASBAH), based in Park Road, Peterborough, has been campaigning for flour in the UK to be fortified with folic acid, which it is thought could cut the number of cases of spina bifida by 1,000 cases i
n Britain every year.
However, last month Government ministers delayed a decision on whether or not to fortify UK flour with the vitamin folic acid, because a research study in America seemed to suggest that bowel cancer rates have risen since flour fortification there.
Spina bifida affects 61 families in Peterborough, and the condition is caused by a cyst in babies' spines.
Severe cases of the illness can lead to sufferers having to use a wheelchair for the rest of their lives.
However, less severe cases can go undetected for many years, with no serious effects.
Research has shown that pregnant mothers can reduce the chances of their baby contracting the disease with small doses of folic acid – but the American research has shown that high doses of the vitamin could stimulate benign tumours.
After receiving the research, Sir England's Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson requested further expert consideration before the Government gives the final go-ahead for mandatory fortification.
Since hearing of the delay, ASBAH has worked with international experts to evaluate the evidence and its review shows that far from causing cancer, folic acid has an overall preventive effect.
ASBAH's chief executive, Andrew Russell, said: "We hope that this will convince a government expert group, which will meet in January, to review the evidence and advise the Food Standards Agency on folic acid policy to go ahead with fortification.
"The intervention of the Chief Medical Officer is an unwelcome delay because there is no new medical evidence in recent reports."
Central and east regional manager for the charity David Isom said that there was still a lot of work to be done on the issue.
He said: "There is still a lot of research going into the subject as to how effective it would be, and why it seems to have an effect.
"But hopefully there will be a final decision next year, and we can see some progress on the issue."
The full article contains 390 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
