Australian women are well aware that folic acid (PFS) and iodine (IS) are recommended supplements to take during pregnancy, but only a quarter of them adhere to the recommendations, scientists report.
Mozambique is gearing up for the introduction of mandatory fortification of flour, corn meal, cooking oil, sugar and salt, following milestone legislation designed to combat malnutrition.
So-called multivitamin and mineral pregnancy supplements are “an unnecessary expense” for most expectant mothers, according to a review of current UK guidance for pregnancy supplementation. Yet industry has called the statements dangerously misleading.
For many years, countries across the developing world have fortified staples such as maize flour, wheat flour and oil with micronutrients that are deficient in the diet. In Nigeria, for example, flour, maize, oil and sugar have been fortified with vitamin...
Supplement and app companies are preying on the public’s fears about dementia and making claims they cannot back up, according to a scathing report from UK consumer watchdog Which?.
Mandatory flour fortification with folic acid would be more effective at reducing birth defects than supplementation or voluntary fortification alone, a report from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) weighing policy options has concluded.
Inaugural meeting of micronutrients and health group
A UK member of parliament (MP) will lobby for folic acid strategies including supplementation and/or fortification of flour following the inaugural meeting of a parliamentary group on micronutrients and health.
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.
Supplementation with vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid may improve cognitive function in older people with mild cognitive impairment, says a new study from Korea.
Women at risk of carrying babies with spina bifida and other neural tube defects may benefit from taking inositol, also known as vitamin B8, alongside folic acid during pregnancy, researchers have suggested.
After a study that took almost a decade to complete, researchers in Europe found that supplementing mothers with folate during pregnancy may help improve their child’s attention system 8.5 years later.
Low prenatal folate levels may be associated with a smaller total brain volume and poorer language and visuo-spatial performance in children at six to eight years, research suggests.
Taking folic acid supplements pre-conception may lower the risk of preterm birth and small-for-gestational-age, but post-conception may be too late to have an effect, according to research in 240,954 pregnant women.
Evidence of the effectiveness of flour fortification for reducing the prevalence of anaemia is limited but reduction of low ferritin shows promise, according to a review of 13 national programmes.
We must tackle the taboo around folic acid supplementation if we are to tackle the rising rate of neural tube defects in Ireland, says public health body.
If iron flour fortification is to work sources and levels approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) are required and actual consumption must be considered, says food fortification expert.
B vitamins may protect against age-related brain wasting, but only in people with high omega-3 levels, says a new study from the University of Oxford that extends our understanding of how nutrients work together.
The Italian health food market is booming – 80% of Italians consume food supplements or functional foods – but regulation threatens a sector comprised of 1800 firms, a congress has been told.
Five countries recommend folate and folic acid consumption around conception above and beyond World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, while five others dismiss supplementation as unnecessary, report finds.
A combination of folic acid and the medication enalapril may be more effective in reducing the risk of stroke in adults with hypertension than the medication alone, according to large-scale research from China.
Oxford researchers have defended their study, which found no link between vitamin B and preventing Alzheimer’s, against accusations of being "inaccurate and misleading".
A high intake of folic acid does not cause cancer so current upper levels and maximum amounts for the vitamin should stay the same, says the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM).
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against supplement manufacturer Vitabiotics concerning an implied claim that its Pregnacare Conception multivitamin range could help women conceive a child.
Data from an upcoming UK Department of Health (DoH) report is likely to reveal the true extent of folate deficiency, according to nutrition multinational DSM.
Vitamin B9 (folic acid) and vitamin B12 (cobalamin) do not benefit thinking and memory in elderly people despite lowering levels of an Alzheimer's-linked protein, according to the largest study of its kind.
A newly approved EU health claim to say folic acid supplements reduce the risk of infant neural tube defects will bring home the nutrient’s importance to women, say a team of campaigners and trade groups behind the claim.
A new group called the Global Nutrition & Health Alliance has formed with the mission to clarify the role of food fortification and nutritional supplementation. The issue of the role of these nutrients in the diet is still a matter of some confusion,...
DSM Nutritional Products (DNP) is not abandoning its folic acid (vitamin B9) offering but has added a high-end, folate form aimed at global supplement and food makers in a deal with Merck in Switzerland.
Dietary supplements containing folic acid did not improve influence the incidence of mood disorder in young people with an increased familial risk of the condition, says a new study.
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.
EFSA has approved Dietary Reference Values (DRV) for folate, niacin and selenium, which set population reference intakes, adequate intakes or average requirements for the European population.
The UK government will finalize its decision on mandatory folic acid fortification of white flour next year following blood folate tests, says the Department of Health (DoH).
Folate, or vitamin B9, has been shown to reduce homocysteine levels that are important in warding off a condition known as exfoliation glaucoma (EG) that can provoke blindness and severe visual impairment, researchers have found.
The European Commission has finally given its approval to Quatrefolic as a food supplement within the EU following a positive ruling from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) last October.
Folic acid is backed to deliver important health benefits in the scientific literature and by regulators – but is over-consumption a real problem? asks Robert Verkerk, PhD, the founder, executive and scientific director of the Alliance for Natural Health...
Deficiencies in folic acid dating back up to five generations could have an impact on developmental risk factors and later risk of disease, according to new research in mice.
Voluntary folic acid fortification of bread is sufficient but maximum limits should be set and the market carefully monitored, a public health expert says.
Europe’s head science agency has joined other international authorities in backing B vitamin folate’s ability to reduce neural tube defects (NTDs) like spina bifida and hydrocephalus in early-stage foetuses.
Food fortification with neural tube defect (NTD)-reducing folic acid is mandatory in 75 nations, but concerns over cancer and other health issues mean Europe lags far behind – a situation that needs to change and quickly, says DSM thinktank, sightandlife.
Vitamin Angels is combating hidden hunger by helping children under five, pregnant women and new mothers gain access to lifesaving and life changing micronutrients. Check out this photo gallery to learn more about the causes of hidden hunger and see the...
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