Saturday, July 14, 2007

Folic acid fortification cut birth defect rates

From CTV News:
In the 10 years since Canadian food manufacturers began fortifying their grain-based products with folic acid, the rate of spina bifida and other neural tube birth defects has been cut in half, a new study reveals.

The study, published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, is not the first to show that folic acid fortification can reduce rates of birth defects. But it is the largest to assess the effects since Canada introduced folic acid fortification in 1998.

The new rules made Canada one of only a few countries in the world to require manufacturers of products such as bread, cereal and pasta to add the B vitamin to their products. ...more

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