In the UK, the Food Standards Agency is considering implementing a program that would
require fortification of white flour with folic acid. The reason for this is that folic acid has been linked to a
decrease in birth defects such as spina bifida. In the US and Canada, white flour has been fortified with folic acid since 1998. Since that time, studies have shown a significant drop
in stroke mortality when the rates were compared with data taken from the UK. This appears to have been an
unintended benefit of the folic acid fortification, but is likely to be a contributing factor to the Food Standards
Agency's move towards require the same policy in the UK. If they adopt the plan, it would be the first mandatory food
fortification since the 1940s.
Folic acid is found in whole grain wheat, but is largely stripped away by the refining processes used to make white flour. Some bakers and other manufacturers in the UK voluntarily fortify their flour with folic acid already.
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