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The policy of adding folic
acid to grain foods -- including cereals, breads,
pasta and flour -- instituted just 3 years ago by the US Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) appears
to be a success.
Blood samples taken after folic acid supplementation
show a 38% higher level
of folate than samples taken before folic acid fortification;
96% of the people who had blood drawn after supplementation
had acceptable folate levels. Among the people who had blood
drawn before fortification, 87% had acceptable folate levels.
The government decided to mandate folic
acid fortification as part of an effort to reduce the number
of children born with neural tube defects, a type of birth
defect that affects the brain and spinal cord and includes
spina bifida.
Results of
earlier studies demonstrated that folic acid supplementation
before pregnancy and during the first weeks of pregnancy could
reduce the risk of these defects.
The neural tubes close at about week 3
or 4 of pregnancy, so many women don't even know they are
pregnant at that early stage. Initially,
the government campaigned to simply have women of childbearing
age routinely take folic acid supplements but compliance was
very low. That's when the FDA decided to order mandatory fortification,
she said.
Annual Meeting
Of The Federation Of American Societies For Experimental Biology
In Orlando, FL April 1, 2001
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