News Release

Folic acid -- mandatory fortification may be unnecessary

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMC (BioMed Central)

Persistently present levels of unmetabolized folic acid found in the population indicate that introducing mandatory food fortification may result in an 'overdosing' effect. A study of blood donors, new mothers and babies, published in the open access journal BMC Public Health, has found that most already get enough folic acid from voluntarily fortified foods.

Mary Rose Sweeney, from Dublin City University, Ireland, led a team of researchers who studied 50 blood samples from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service and from 20 mothers and 20 infants' umbilical–cords, from Coombe Women's and Infants' University Hospital, also in Dublin. She said, "A recent study has suggested excessive folic acid consumption may increase the risk of prostate cancer and more severe adenorectal carcinoma recurrence. We set out to explore how much unmetabolized folic acid is present in Irish people exposed to the current range of 'voluntarily' fortified foodstuffs, and to predict the increase in levels should a policy of mandatory fortification be introduced".

Folic acid and other micronutrients have been added on a voluntary basis to breakfast cereal, bread and other products in the Republic of Ireland for over 15 years, to remedy perceived inadequate intake. The Food Safety Authority in Ireland is currently discussing whether to make such fortification mandatory. In this study, Sweeney and her colleagues found that circulatory unmetabolized folic acid was present in the majority of their sample. They write, "This implies constant exposure of both normal cells, and potential tumour cells, to this pro-vitamin amongst Irish consumers. In terms of the increase that might arise if mandatory fortification goes ahead, we predict it to be in the region of 12%".

The consequences of increased consumption of folic acid are still unknown, but, according to the researchers, "This should continue to be of concern for those with responsibility for drafting legislation in this area".

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Notes to Editors

  1. Persistent circulating unmetabolized folic acid in a setting of liberal voluntary folic acid fortification. Implications for further mandatory fortification?

    Mary R Sweeney, Anthony Staines, Leslie Daly, Aisling Traynor, Sean Daly, Steve W Bailey, Patricia B Alverson, June E Ayling and John M Scott BMC Public Health (in press)

    During embargo, article available here http://www.biomedcentral.com/imedia/6731034032428529_article.pdf?random=709185. After the embargo, article available at journal website http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/

    Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

    Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication

  2. BMC Public Health is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in the epidemiology of disease and the understanding of all aspects of public health. The journal has a special focus on the social determinants of health, the environmental, behavioral, and occupational correlates of health and disease, and the impact of health policies, practices and interventions on the community. BMC Public Health (ISSN 1471-2458) is indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, MEDLINE, CAS, Scopus, EMBASE, Current Contents, Thomson Reuters (ISI) and Google Scholar.

  3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.

  4. This study is a collaboration between the following institutions:

    Dublin City University, University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Coombe Women's and Infants' Hospital, and the University of South Alabama.


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