From mid-August this year, the Government will require all non-organic bread-making wheat flour, produced or sold in New Zealand, to be fortified with folic acid.
The B vitamin, folic acid, is essential for the healthy development of babies early in pregnancy.
'Consuming folic acid just before conception and early on during the pregnancy is vital to protecting babies from the risk of major birth defects such as spina bifida, but as just over half of pregnancies in New Zealand are unplanned, many people will not be taking folic acid supplements during this critical time,' Deputy Director of Public Health, Dr Harriette Carr says.
'Introducing mandatory fortification to non-organic bread making flour, will ensure that people of child-bearing age are well supported to increase their folic acid consumption, as bread is a staple food eaten by most of the population', Dr Carr says.
This change will align us with the public health approach to flour fortification in Australia, Canada, and the USA.
'Folate is naturally present in many foods. Folic acid fortification restores what is lost during processing such as flour milling. It is an internationally well-accepted and safe approach to supporting the development of babies during pregnancy,' Dr Carr says.
Fortifying flour is also shown overseas to be an important step in increasing equitable rates of healthy births. After fortification became mandatory in Australia, neural tube defects fell by 14% overall, and by 74% in Indigenous women.
