l'

.,

I r

q-'

Btr F'ORTIF'ItrD?
)
FOR OPTIMUM HEALTH? BONNIEVAUGHAN ASKSTWO EXPERTS

JOE LEDERMAN
Managing principal, FoodLegal
I

think government food fortifi cation

When voluntary folic acid

7
D O

pollcies are confusing, if not flawed. Look at iodised salt in bread.The

fortification began in the mid-9Os,

there was evidence of a 30 per cent
decrease of neural tube defects in

government has been telling people to reduce salt intake because we're consuming too much. At the same time, they're still telling us that the best
way for our iodine to be supplemented
is

non-indiqenous infants. But the rates in indigenous Australian infants remained high. So the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code was amended to require mandatory
fortifi cation, without exploring the alternatives for improving the dlets

by having iodised salt in our bread. l'm partlcularly concerned about the

mandatory addition of folic acid in

bread-making flour. Food Standard 2.1.1 requires no less than 2mg per 1kg and no more than 3mg per 1kg of folic
acid to be put ln the bread flour,

of

indigenous communltles. The process for approval of

ma

ndatory folic-acid fortifi cation

with

seems to have been flawed. Little or no

the exception of organic bread. This

range
is

study was done on the potential

adverse impacts on people who stand to gain nothing from it - namely, the

very nanow. Flour millers were

telllng me,'We don't know how to actually sprlnkle or blend this at the micro levels necessary to avoid an unsafe overdosei 5o in effect, flour
millers are now required to medicate Australia's population - yet they are

entire male population and all people under or over childbearing age.The
process was rushed through and the

monitoring systems were lnadequate. Food fortification is a scattergun

approach
as a

not doctors capable ofdoing so.

The mandatory folic acid the folate you get frorn dark petroleum source to make
a is also

preventative health

not

measure. Australla has such a diverse

lea!
water-

population and yet mandatorY

fonifi cation makes assumptions

greens. lt s synthesised from a

about our mass food supply that cannot be sustained in a large, modern, non-homogenous society.
The government should be protecting

soluble vitamin 89. Medical research

of folic acid can mask the symptoms of

has indicated that elevated levels

some serious health conditions or even lead to an increased risk of colorectal and breast cancer.

the food supply rather than becoming

active agents for our food to be

deliberately contaminated.

o
49

gooddiscttssion.

SHOULD OUR FOOD

IS

ADDING VITAMINS AND MINERALS TO OUR FOOD REALLY NECESSARY

ln an effort to keep the Australian population as

YTS
iPROF'trSSOR iCARYL NOWSON
iChair in nutrition and ageing, Deakin University
l've been advocatlng for mandatory

healthy as it can be,

k.
a
a

the government has mandated that some of our foods be

fortified with
vitamins and minerals.We have thiamine and folic acid added to our bread-making flour, iodised salt in our bread, and vitamin D in our table spreads.
But should the

determined to keep

tight quality
is

fortification of vitamin D in mllk since 2002, similar to the practice in Canada.

5o far the government's response has

control on the amount of iodine that

bound to a salt granule. As we gradually reduce salt in bread, which we are trying to do from a hypertension point of view, all you need to do is increase the iodine on the salt granule. As long
as you're

been to wait until the next national health survey to see how widespread vitamin D deficiencies are. We have many immigrant populations in thls country who have darker skin and/or cover up, and wete seeing cases of
rickets among these people.You only need a very small amount of vitamin D in the food supply to prevent rickets.

monitoring that, you can adjust it to suit.

The addition of folic acid is probably

the most controversial, but if you look

at the dietary surveys, people weren't

government have its hands on our food supply? Do

consumers deserve a choice?We asked

meeting their folate recommendations.

There's also a great volume of literature

Many industrial countries use mass

two experts to
in on each side

weigh

of the debate.

fortification to address the adverse health outcomes of a relatively small segment of the population. Here in
Australia, we mandated adding

that supports the fact that consuming more folate will reduce the incidence of
cancer and cardiovascular dlsease and

will benefit the population

It's a

as a

whole.

t f

water-soluble vitamin, it doesnt

thiamine to bread-making flour in 1 991 to prevent Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a condition alcoholics get from thiamine deficiency. The primary
rationale for adding folic acid to

bulld up in the body, and no toxic

effects have been demonstrated.
lf most people knew they weren't

getting enough folate or lodine, they'd

probably buy some supplements. But people who aren't educated or who

to prevent neural tube defects in the offspring of

bread-making flour pregnant women
is

dont have the resources are not going

to do that. People from low soclo-

also a relatively

small component of the population.

The exception is iodine deficiency,

which affects a greater proportion of the population because iodine is deficient

in many of the soils in Australia. Adding iodlsed salt to bread
a controlled
is a

economic backgrounds probably arent going to be consuming the required amounts of fruit and vegetables either They are the people who are the most vulnerable and among whom you can
prevent these conditions. and
is It s

way of ensuring
is

not doing

amount goes into the food

any harm to the rest of the population

supply. The manufacturing process

probably doing them some good.

48