I don’t really care about the folic acid controversy, mainly because I don’t eat much bread but I’m basically pro – I think the benefits of the population having their folate intake increased will outweigh the rather nebulous drawbacks. But I think the government could have avoided this whole debate if they referred to the supplement as Vitamin B9 instead of folic acid. Everyone knows Vitamins are good for you! Too late for that now, of course.
July 14, 2009
7 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Even given the water shortages, one has to assume the Australians are not planning a mass genocide of their own population. Except for Sue Kegley. I imagine she thinks this is yet another thread in the vast Alien conspiracy.
Comment by Tom Semmens — July 14, 2009 @ 9:03 am
Yeah, but the reasoning behind adding folic acid means we’re providing the vitamin to the entire population to help only a small portion of the population (women who are pregnant). I’m not a fan of that imbalance.
Comment by Ataahua — July 14, 2009 @ 9:18 am
Yeah, but the reasoning behind adding folic acid means we’re providing the vitamin to the entire population to help only a small portion of the population (women who are pregnant). I’m not a fan of that imbalance.
Having folate in your diet doesn’t just help pregnant women, it’s good for everybody.
Comment by danylmc — July 14, 2009 @ 11:45 am
Agreed – however the Government’s reason for introducing it is to help pregnant women:
The standard was introduced to ensure pregnant women receive sufficient folate, which protects against birth defects such as spina bifida.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2590247/Folic-acid-findings-muddy-waters
Comment by Ataahua — July 14, 2009 @ 12:43 pm
The nanny state meme comes back to bite the hand that fed it for so long. This is showers and lightbulbs stuff, for which there is a clear rationale and a small minority of loud dissenters.
Sue Kedgley should play carefully here, and make it a health issue, not a government interference issue. Sooner or later, if all goes well for them, her party will have to face down similar.
Comment by George D — July 14, 2009 @ 12:51 pm
How many slices must my wife eat? The money I would’ve spent on vitamuins can now be spent on tabs and beer (and income protection insurance), Whoo-hoo!
Comment by Clunking Fist — July 14, 2009 @ 1:40 pm
Your comment that folic acid in bread will help everyone is debatable. And bread with it added still won’t have enough folate to prevent pregant women from giving birth to children with neural tube defects.
Research suggests there may be a cancer danger in folic acid, though a piece of as yet un-peer-reviewed counter research may be coming out in Europe. It’s a bit like the early days of smoking danger allegations.
Surely, it would pay to be cautious in the light of this and take up the bakers’ offer of separate lines of bread with folic acid for the minority of consumers who may benefit?
Further reading:
http://news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009104200003
OR IN MORE DETAIL
http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/news/20090310/folic-acid-may-raise-prostate-cancer-risk
AND on a separate issue – colon cancer
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Folic-acid-and-colorectal-cancer-Chilean-study-adds-to-concerns
Comment by Jack Neill — July 14, 2009 @ 3:27 pm