Welcome to the Website of the Implementation Group for the Policy of Mandatory Fortification of Bread on the Irish Market
In 2004, the Minister for Health and Children set up a National Committee on Folic Acid Food Fortification and requested the Food Safety Authority of Ireland to act as the Secretariat to the Committee. The Committee was tasked with reviewing options for the fortification of foods with folic acid in view of the relatively high level of NTDs in Ireland. In carrying out this work the Committee addressed the broader aspects of implementing this policy including the technical issues regarding fortification, addressing risk and examining other reported health benefits that are linked to fortification. As part of the work of this Committee, a public consultation was conducted on possible options for the fortification of foods with folic acid. This consultation finished on 24th June 2005. Following analysis of all submissions, the Committee made a policy recommendation to the Minister for Health on 18th July, 2006. The Committee recommended the mandatory fortification with folic acid of most white, brown and wholemeal breads on sale in Ireland. The Minister for Health and Children supported the recommendations contained in the report.
The Implementation Group on Folic Acid Fortification presented its final report to the Department of Health and Children. The Implementation Group proposes that at this current time there would no benefits to public health to introduce mandatory folic acid fortification. This new advice follows scientific assessment and a number of factors which negate the need for a mandatory policy. These factors include the fact that women of childbearing age now receive 30% more folate in their diet as compared to three years ago, due to voluntary fortification across the food sector; a reduction in the incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs) to 0.93 per 1,000 births has occurred since 2005 and finally, preliminary and inconclusive data indicate some potential for adverse effects to excessive high levels of folic acid. The full report is available here:
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