Response to the Consultation by the Food Standards Agency on the “Options to increase folate intakes of young women.” Published: 12th December 2006.

Response from
Anthony J. A. Wright and Paul M. Finglas 
13th March 2007
tony.wright@ifr.ac.uk & paul.finglas@ifr.ac.uk]

Part-1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The SACN Report on “Folate and Disease Prevention” released on 12th December 2006 covers a great deal of new evidence that has emerged since the last 2000 COMA Report. Its authors should therefore be applauded for having produced a document that is both detailed and, bearing in mind the currently fast moving scientific literature in the field of folate research, as up-to-date as possible.

We fully support the desire to reduce Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) in the target population and appreciate the effectiveness of a whole population strategy for achieving this purpose. However, we would recommend some caution in this approach given the low target group that is being addressed and the potential for systemic exposure to unmetabolised folic acid, which arguably may provoke potentially deleterious health effects. The following reasons are given for this concern and are based on the science available in the current literature which, in some cases, post-dates the inevitable cut-off point of the recent SACN Report.”

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