Nitrate-rich beetroot juice reduces blood pressure in adults with elevated blood pressure, according to a new double-blind randomised controlled feasibility trial conducted in Africa.
Once described by President Obama as “horrible”, yeast-based spreads are not for everyone, but new data suggests the B vitamin-rich foods may improve stress and anxiety.
The re-emergence of the Victorian-era condition rickets in the UK has put the spotlight back on vitamin D intakes, and a recent advisory committee report will likely spur debate on the need for mandatory fortification.
New findings that the body is less efficient at metabolising folic acid than natural folates could inform policy-making decisions as the UK government considers mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid.
The government at Westminster is being urged to press ahead with mandatory fortification of bread and flour with folic acid across the UK in a bid to reduce neural tube defects in foetuses.
A woman’s diet and lifestyle before and during pregnancy, and her baby’s diet in early life, can affect the infant’s risk of succumbing to disease later on and this will have important implications for the food industry, a new scientific report has concluded.
Improving knowledge on the levels folate in ready-to-eat convenience foods will help European food manufacturers and policy makers to come to better decisions on fortification, suggest researchers.
New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has called for submissions on its latest consultation paper set to decide between mandatory implementation of folic acid fortification or a continued voluntary policy.
Formulating snack bars with micro-sized flakes of lentils may boost the folate content of the finished product by 10 per cent, says a new study from Canada.
Look at the globe and you’d be hard pressed to find two countries further apart than Ireland and New Zealand. But they stand side-by-side on the folic acid fortification issue – it is not needed.
A recent law from Brussels has thrown up new opportunities for different loaf sizes for UK bakers, with 2009 set to witness an escalation in new product development related to the weight of pre-packaged breads.
Carefully selecting the yeast strain for bakery could result in natural biofortication of the product with folate, and remove the need to add synthetic folic acid, suggests a new study.
Two scientific papers which have raised question marks over the
safety of fortifying flour with folic acid to prevent neural tube
defects in pregnancies provide no concern, UK doctors have said.
Researchers at the UK Institute of Food Research have warned that
fortifying flour with folic acid may lead to a range of health
problems, a finding that calls into question the Food
Standard Agency's approval of the move earlier...
The board of the UK's Food Standards Agency yesterday gave the
go-ahead for the recommendation on mandatory folic acid
fortification be made to health ministers, but it remains unclear
whether the nutrient will be added to flour...
A UK food safety panel is recommending that the mandatory addition
of folic acid should be made at the milling stage rather than at
the manufacturing stage, shifting the cost burden to suppliers.
Folic acid does not decrease the risk of benign colorectal tumours
and may increase the likelihood of contracting some types
of tumours, say researchers - but the supplements industry urges
caution in light of documented benefits.
Fortitech Asia Pacific has been appointed to manufacture a vitamin
and mineral premix containing Akzo Nobel's Ferrazone iron for
Pakistan's National Wheat Fortification Program - a contract that
underscores confidence in...
When the idea of fortifying staple foods with vital nutrients is
raised, the battlecry goes up from industry groups and advocates of
consumer choice: "Why should we bear the costs?" "Educate, and
let people make their...
A diet low in folate may increase the risk of developing colorectal
cancer, says an animal study from Canada, backing up previous
studies and highlighting potential additional benefits of folic
acid fortification.
The debate over folic acid fortification of bread took a new turn
this week, thanks to a study from Sweden which suggests that low
folate levels may guard against colorectal cancer.
The road to fortification of bakery products with folate in the UK
looks less clear as the FSA's Scientific Advisory requested more
time to review evidence on dosage, despite a positive preliminary
report last month.
The Food Standards Agency will tomorrow recommend mandatory folic
acid fortification of bread in the UK, in an effort to reduce the
incidence of pregnancies affected by neural tube defects (NTDs).
The unhealthy, high-fat foods we consume may not be the only
culprits when it comes to obesity and related diseases, according
to US scientists who reveal that a pregnant mother's diet may
permanently increase- or reduce- her...
The number of deaths from stroke in North America has dropped by
five per cent since the introduction of folic acid fortification,
while figures in the non-fortifying UK have not changed.
Pregnant women who do not take folic acid-containing supplements
are eight times more likely to have low serum folate values,
despite eating folate-fortified foods, claims a new study.
A chemically produced folate, said to be several times more
bioavailable than folic acid and recently approved for food use in
Europe, gives premium supplement makers a chance to differentiate
from the commonly marketed form of the...
Fortifying milk with folic acid offers an accessible source of the
vitamin, report Dutch researchers who tested bioavailability of the
nutrient in a clinical trial.
Scientists in the US have found that spinach stored for a long time
loses much of its nutrient content, a discovery that has
implications for the shipping of fresh food.
Food fortified with folic acid slashed rates of neural tube defects
in babies finds new study from Canada that puts weight behind calls
for global fortification of foods, as well as supplement use.
Mothers with low levels of vitamin B12 in their blood may be at
increased risk of having a child with the birth defect spina
bifida, Dutch researchers report.
Japanese pharmaceutical firm Takeda will sell off its stakes in
five non-core joint ventures, including the vitamins business that
it operates with Germany's BASF, according to reports.
Folic acid - the B vitamin found commonly in supplements and
increasingly in a wide range of bread products - is already known
to prevent severe birth defects and to lower risk of death from
heart disease. But it could also help to...
Breakfast cereals fortified with folic acid and other B vitamins
could help consumers protect against heart disease by lowering
levels of homocysteine, suggests new research. The amino acid
homocysteine is increasingly accepted as...
Evidence continues to mount suggesting a link between various
stages of depression and low blood levels of the B vitamin folate,
according to research funded by the Agricultural Research Service
in the US.
Extensive analysis of studies on the power of vitamins A, C and E
or multivitamins to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer
calls highlights need for more evidence.
Studies continue on the impact of folic acid levels in babies with
scientists reporting on possible link between folate deficiency
during pregnancy and leukaemia in children.
As evidence to suggest that folic acid during pregnancy could
protect against neural tube defects continues to mount, scientists
in Israel suggest this week that folic acid could also help prevent
Down's syndrome.
Bread fortified with a variety of vitamins and omega-3 DHA has been
launched by independent UK bakers Warburtons. The loaf is designed
to help increase DHA intake among pregnant women.
Folic acid could dramatically reduce the risk of heart disease,
deep vein thrombosis and stroke according to researchers in this
week's British Medical Journal. Scientists report that the
vitamin can reduce levels of homocysteine...
A study of more than 400 Swedish women has found that folate
deficiency was associated with a 50 per cent increase in risk of
early miscarriage. Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in
Stockholm, Sweden, also found that high folate...
Biacore International has had its food analysis kit, used for the
rapid routine testing of the vitamin food supplement folic acid,
fully validated and certified as a Performance Tested Method by the
Association of Analytical Communities...
Folic acid is not only a safeguard against spina bifida and other
birth defects in babies - it can also prevent heart disease and
strokes, two of Northern Ireland's biggest killers, according to
research from the University of...
The case for the folic acid fortification of foods, or at least for
supplementation with folic acid, received a boost this week with
the publication of new research showing that the positive effects
of folic acid in reducing homocysteine...
