ASSOCIATION OF BAKERS

MEDIA RELEASE

8 November 2010

Government Made Right Call on Folic Acid in Bread

Public health activists pushing for mandatory fortification of every slice of bread in NewZealandcontinue to exaggerate the benefits, while downplaying the potential risks to children andmen, says Laurie Powell, President of the Association of Bakers.

“We understand very wellthat it was a major step for the Government to defer the Mandatory Fortification FoodStandard, andwe took on board the challenge from Prime Minister John KeyandMinister for FoodSafety Kate Wilkinson to engage in a voluntary fortification programme.

“In the last year our members have worked with the NewZealand FoodSafety Authority on implementing a voluntary fortification regime, which appropriately targets women of childbearing agewithout dosing the entire country. 

“Since the introduction of voluntary fortification of bread approximately 30% of our members’ ranges arefortified.  These arebreads targeted at women.

“Mandatory fortification supporters continue to imply that if NewZealandimplements the standard that allneural tube defects will be prevented or that classrooms of children could be spared.  Sadly, this is exaggerated andincorrect.  Even if NewZealandhad introduced mandatory fortification FoodStandards Australia NewZealand suggested that the impact would be 1 – 3 cases.

“Some common sense needs to be reintroduced to this discussion. It’s unfair to bakers to imply that bread is the only magical solution, particularly when dataindicates that women of childbearing ageeatthe least amount of bread of any market segment.

“We do not debate that fortification programmes have been successful in many third world anddeveloping countries.  However, for developed countries like NewZealand, the issue is quite different. Today, when most of the population in developed countries like ours arewell-nourished, authorities face different problems when they consider fortification programmes. When a nutritional deficiency is limited to a subset of the population, they have to find the right dose of fortificant so that it is effective, but not toxic.

“Dosing the entire NewZealandpopulation with folic acid to reduce raredisorders hasto be balanced against the potential risks.  It also hasto have the widesupport of NewZealanders, which is not currently the case.

“Our advice from international experts is still that the NewZealand Government made the right call. Until the science is clear that fortification is safe, particularly for NewZealandchildren, we will continue to oppose mandatory fortification.” Mr Powell said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media