What is Folic Acid?
Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate. Folate is an essential vitamin for making DNA. Folate is the form that is found naturally in foods and folic acid is the form that is added to fortified foods and food supplements. Folic acid plays an important role in forming red blood cells and maintaining brain health. Folic acid also supports a healthy pregnancy and lowers the risk of birth defects of the brain and spine.
Why are consumers in Ireland being made aware about UK flour?
Ireland currently imports approximately 50% of its flour from the UK. There is no legal requirement to fortify flour in the Republic of Ireland.
However, in the UK, non-wholewheat flour is fortified under the UK Bread and Flour (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin. From 13 December 2026, non-wholewheat flour will also have to be fortified with folic acid.
Why will UK flour be fortified with folic acid and what are the benefits?
Folic acid deficiency is a leading cause of neural tube defects (NTDs). NTDs can cause a number of serious conditions to babies in the womb, with lifetime health consequences, e.g. spina bifida, anencephaly. In the UK, it is estimated that by fortifying non-wholemeal wheat flour with folic acid, neural tube defect rates will be reduced by 20% and the health of pregnant women will be improved.
How much folic acid will be in the UK flour?
0.25mg (250µg) folic acid per 100g of non-wholemeal wheat flour.
When will the UK flour be fortified with folic acid?
Under the UK Bread and Flour (Amendment) Regulations 2024, there is a requirement from 13 December 2026 that non-wholemeal wheat flour will also be fortified with folic acid. However, it is likely that the UK flour millers will start fortifying non-wholemeal wheat flour with folic acid in advance of the 13 December 2026 deadline.
Consequently, it is likely that folic acid will be found in products made with UK non-wholewheat flour on the Irish market shortly afterwards.
What types of products will contain flour fortified with folic acid?
It is likely that any product with non-wholemeal wheat flour as an ingredient could contain fortified flour from the UK. The majority of products are breads, biscuits, cakes and pastries.
How will I know if a product contains folic acid?
EU labelling regulations require that ingredients in a product are listed on the label in descending order of the weight of each ingredient. For products made using fortified flour, the compound ingredients of the flour will also have to be labelled in the ingredient list, for example; Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Thiamin, Niacin, Folic Acid).
Are there any negative effects associated with consuming products that contain flour fortified with folic acid? / Can people consume too much folic acid?
Folic acid plays an important role in forming red blood cells and maintaining brain health. Folic acid also supports a healthy pregnancy and lowers the risk of birth defects of the brain and spine. However, large doses of folic acid can mask vitamin B12 deficiency in older people, leading to health impacts caused by delayed diagnosis. Previous work carried out by the Scientific Committee of the FSAI looked at similar levels (225µg folic acid per 100g wheat flour) of folic acid fortification and the possible negative health impacts. It found that the risk of masking of megaloblastic anaemia associated with (undiagnosed) vitamin B12 deficiency from excessive intake of folic acid in older people may be considered to be negligible with the fortification scenarios examined. Further details are available in the FSAI report Update Report on Folic Acid and the Prevention of Birth Defects in Ireland.
This finding is further supported by work carried out by Food Standards Scotland to estimate the potential impact of fortification of flour with folic acid in the UK. Further details are available in the Food Satandards Scotland report.
I am a woman of childbearing age and take a folic acid supplement daily. Should I still take my folic acid supplement even though I’ll be eating food fortified with folic acid?
Yes, you should continue to take your folic acid supplement. Intake resulting from folic acid in food containing fortified flour will not be sufficient to lower the risk of birth defects. It is recommended that all women of childbearing age should take a 400µg folic acid supplement daily.
For further details on folic acid recommendations, please visit the HSE links below.