But most other people already get their required amount of folate - the natural form of the vitamin - from a normal diet.
There was a concern that for some people, particularly the elderly, boosting folic acid might have unintended negative consequences, such as covering up the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency.
But the government’s independent advisory body has looked at all the evidence and is satisfied that fortification is the right thing to do for society as a whole."
I knew nothing about this, until reading this news item. Have you been consulted in any way and do you approve of additives to your food? What about the remainder of the population who will not be affected by the aims, while understandable, of this being added to their food?
You would be hard pushed to find any food around without additives.
Just today I learned that the pre-made boxed sandwiches you can by have a three day shelf life, my home made sandwiches last a day so one assumes that there are additives in the shop bought ones.
It is nothing new, Folic acid and iodine has been added to flour for bread making for well over decade in Australia and I think in NZ too. I remember the legislation going through parliament.
We used to get iodine through our milk because it was used to sterilise milking equipment but when that was changed it was decided to add it to flour. I have a feeling that in the UK iodine is added to salt by law personally I always buy salt with iodine added though my consumption of salt is negligible.
Very little is what they want you to believe, what it is. Guess what the biggest ingredient in Warburtons potato cakes are? For those who thought potato. Wrong. The biggest ingredient is flour & then water. Presumably because potato costs more than flour & water. Not that potato is an expensive ingredient, but every penny saved is a penny extra in profit.
The ingredient list reads. Flour [with Calcium, Iron, Niacin (B3) and Thiamin (B1)], Water, Dehydrated Potato Flakes (18%.)
So the largest ingredient by % is flour, then it is water & under 20% of the potato cake is actually potato. And the flour has Calcium, iron, Niacin & Thiamin added.
They are also planning to fluoridate water nationwide. They currently have this in the midlands and maybe another area. It’s part of the health and social care new act. Clearly not being publicised but I heard a debate on LBC which is how I found out by accident. Very much against this as it has side effects for some.
Here we go again, more misinformation. This is taken from the NHS’s website:
“Overall, these reviews found that water fluoridation appears to contribute to reduced tooth decay levels and doesn’t seem to be associated with any significant health risks.”
Here’s the link, scroll down to Community water fluoridation: Fluoride - NHS
I am just saying what research has found. It is a contentious issue in the scientific community. In particular note that you can over ingest fluoride if you drink more water than normal - my opinion is that they should provide adequate free dental care on the NHS and health education on dental hygiene. This is a substitution of dental provision :
" * Once water is fluoridated, it is difficult to control excessive fluoride intake, as people drink different amounts of water. For instance, manual laborers, patients (i.e., diabetics), athletes, and so forth, need and may consume a higher amount of water compared to other people (34). Accordingly, excess in fluoride intake can affect anyone regardless of age, health status, and individualized therapy (35). For example, children are receiving the same amount of fluoride as adults, and some patients (i.e., patients with kidney disease) are receiving the same dose as healthy people. We must also keep in mind that the amount of fluoride added to water (1 ppm) is up to 200 times higher than its amount in breast milk (0.005~0.01 ppm) (36).
– Moreover, while fluoridating water, contamination with toxic chemicals can probably occur (i.e., arsenic). Although all suppliers are required to provide certificates of analysis and the amounts of contaminants in chemicals added to water as in some countries such as New Zealand (37), this is not always the case all over the world.
– In addition, several animal and human studies on fluoride show some neurotoxic (38–42) and nephrotoxic (43) effects. Other negative effects of fluoride, even when administered in small doses (starting 0.3 ppm), occur on the levels of the thyroid function (44), the skeletal system (45,46) and the reproductive system (47–49).
– Another major concern caused by excessive fluoride intake is dental fluorosis, which can range from mild to severe, as proved by the 2010 CDC report on fluorosis among children (50), but the 2009 New Zealand Oral Health Survey found similar cases of fluorosis in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated countries (51). However, this might not be the case everywhere.
– Nowadays, people receive fluoride from many sources other than fluoridated water. These sources include ingested products such as mechanically deboned meat (52), tea (53), pesticide residues on food (54), and non-ingested products like fluoridated dental products (55).
– The fluoride benefit is topical rather than systemic (11,56,57), hence, it is better to deliver fluoride directly to the tooth using the toothpaste instead of ingesting it (34)
– Furthermore, tooth decay is widely spread in fluoridated low-income countries where the absence of dental care and poor hygiene are the main causes of dental decay (34).
– It is important to note that there are no randomized controlled trials to validate the effectiveness of fluoridation (58). In 2000, none of the studies on fluoridation received a Grade A classification by the British Government’s “York Review” (59). Correspondingly, fluoride is classified as an “unapproved new drug” by the US Food and Drug Administration (60). As of January 2012, over 4,000 professionals have signed a memorandum to end water fluoridation worldwide (61)."
Fluoride has been added to Australian water for nearly half a century, it has improved children’s teeth no end. No one has been poisoned, it is all upside.
BTW Some areas within Australia have natural fluoride levels in the groundwater, which provides drinking water to approximately 1% of the population.
