快猫短视频

CASES of spina bifida in the US have dipped dramatically thanks to the
compulsory addition of folic acid to products such as breakfast cereals and
wholemeal bread.

鈥淭he observed decline means about 800 more healthy babies are being born in
the US each year,鈥� says Margaret Honein, an epidemiologist at the US Centers for
Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, who led the team which made the
discovery.

The result confirms earlier, smaller studies that found folic acid prevents
congenital defects like spina bifida that leave parts of the spinal cord
exposed. It also increases pressure for regulatory authorities worldwide to
consider making fortification with folic acid compulsory.

This happened in the US in 1998, when the Food and Drug Administration
ordered folic acid to be added to grain products. Honein and her colleagues have
now found that the incidence of spina bifida has fallen by 19 per cent since
then, to 31 cases per 100,000 live births. 鈥淥ur study provides the first
epidemiological evidence that mandatory folic acid fortification of the US grain
supply has decreased the occurrence of neural tube defects,鈥� says Honein.

The jury is still out on whether the FDA should force food manufacturers to
add even higher doses. At the moment, women are advised to eat at least 400
micrograms of folic acid daily, before and during pregnancy. The FDA鈥檚
compulsory fortifications were reckoned to add around one-quarter of this to the
average diet.

鈥淚f the FDA set it at a higher level, they might have got the numbers down
even more,鈥� says Jack Winkler, an independent food policy analyst based in
London. He says the evidence that folic acid prevents spina bifida is now so
strong that regulatory authorities should consider allowing it to be stated on
labels. So-called 鈥渕edicinal claims鈥� that purport to prevent, treat or cure
disease are illegal on food labels in the US and Europe.