17 September 2019

We have urged the government to include people following a gluten free diet in the consultation on the possible mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid.

We have responded to the government’s consultation on the proposal to fortify flour with folic acid to help reduce the number of babies born with neural tube defects (NTDs). Currently, the proposed policy options don’t include gluten free flour so we have urged the government to consider equivalency for those following a gluten free diet so they are included in the changes.

It is important that people with coeliac disease and those who use gluten free flour based products, whether for medical reasons or not, also benefit from the proposed introduction of folic acid which aims to help improve intake of folic acid in women who could become pregnant. Folic acid fortification helps to reduce the number of babies born with neural tube defects (NTDs), such as spina bifida, which occur during the development of the foetus in the first few weeks of pregnancy. There are about 1,000 affected pregnancies per year in the UK.

We will update you as we hear more.