Once described by President Obama as “horrible”, yeast-based spreads are not for everyone, but new data suggests the B vitamin-rich foods may improve stress and anxiety.
The FDA has given the green light to the voluntary fortification of corn masa flour, allowing manufacturers to add up to 0.7mg per pound, which is consistent with fortification levels approved for enriched cereal grains.
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.
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,...
Nutrient levels in the US population are generally good, but deficiencies among certain population groups are a cause for concern, says a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Formulating snack bars with micro-sized flakes of lentils may boost the folate content of the finished product by 10 per cent, says a new study from Canada.
Look at the globe and you’d be hard pressed to find two countries further apart than Ireland and New Zealand. But they stand side-by-side on the folic acid fortification issue – it is not needed.
Carefully selecting the yeast strain for bakery could result in natural biofortication of the product with folate, and remove the need to add synthetic folic acid, suggests a new study.
The US dietary supplements industry yesterday launched an initiative to give folic acid another boost in the minds of consumers for its benefits for healthy infant development.
Fresh concerns over links between folic acid and cancer have forced
the UK government to delay its decision over enforcing mandatory
fortification of bread with the vitamin.
The nutritional benefits of dry beans, chickpeas, lentils and dry
peas and how they can be added to foods as a health-boost took
center stage at a meeting in Canada today.
The number of countries requiring wheat flour to be fortified -
primarily with folic acid - has increased from 33 to 54 in the last
three years, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
Two scientific papers which have raised question marks over the
safety of fortifying flour with folic acid to prevent neural tube
defects in pregnancies provide no concern, UK doctors have said.
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand is mulling a new slate of
changes to its food code, including several proposals for several
new ingredients and processing aids to be allowed in the countries.
Mothers with low B vitamin levels before conceiving tend
to have fatter male offspring at greater risk of high blood
pressure, suggests new research with sheep.
Researchers at the UK Institute of Food Research have warned that
fortifying flour with folic acid may lead to a range of health
problems, a finding that calls into question the Food
Standard Agency's approval of the move earlier...
UK health ministers have asked the Food Standards Agency to take
another look at studies on folic acid fortification and colorectal
cancer risk before making a decision on mandatory fortification of
some food products.
The board of the UK's Food Standards Agency yesterday gave the
go-ahead for the recommendation on mandatory folic acid
fortification be made to health ministers, but it remains unclear
whether the nutrient will be added to flour...
A UK food safety panel is recommending that the mandatory addition
of folic acid should be made at the milling stage rather than at
the manufacturing stage, shifting the cost burden to suppliers.
Folic acid does not decrease the risk of benign colorectal tumours
and may increase the likelihood of contracting some types
of tumours, say researchers - but the supplements industry urges
caution in light of documented benefits.
Fortitech Asia Pacific has been appointed to manufacture a vitamin
and mineral premix containing Akzo Nobel's Ferrazone iron for
Pakistan's National Wheat Fortification Program - a contract that
underscores confidence in...
The decision by the UK's Food Standards Agency to recommend
mandatory fortification of either bread or flour with folic acid
has met with a positive response, both from the bakery industry and
medical researchers.
The board of the UK's Food Standards Agency is set to agree on the
advice it will give to health ministers on fortifying flour with
folic acid on Thursday, following a consultation with stakeholders
and a positive recommendation...
With the impending introduction of folic acid fortification in
Ireland and the UK, a new study reports that double the US level of
folic acid can safely be used in flour.
Tomatoes, genetically engineered to contain high levels of folate,
could provide the recommended daily amount in one standard serving,
says new research.
The effects of increased folic acid intake amongst the elderly may
be a double-edged sword, with benefits and harm dependent on the
person's vitamin B12 levels, says a new study.
When the idea of fortifying staple foods with vital nutrients is
raised, the battlecry goes up from industry groups and advocates of
consumer choice: "Why should we bear the costs?" "Educate, and
let people make their...
A diet low in folate may increase the risk of developing colorectal
cancer, says an animal study from Canada, backing up previous
studies and highlighting potential additional benefits of folic
acid fortification.
Adolescents, an often overlooked population, could also be reaping
the benefits of folic acid fortification of enriched grain products
with lower levels of a marker of cardiovascular disease (CVD), says
a new study.
The unhealthy, high-fat foods we consume may not be the only
culprits when it comes to obesity and related diseases, according
to US scientists who reveal that a pregnant mother's diet may
permanently increase- or reduce- her...
Folic acid from fortification and supplements may reduce the
severity of birth defects, as well as preventing the rate of
defects, leading experts to again call for increasing fortification
levels.
Evidence for folic acid's ability to reduce the adverse effects of
alcohol on breast cancer risk is stacking up, with the publication
of a prospective cohort study in the British Medical
Journal.
A new study indicates that the mandatory addition of folic acid to
all grain products has had less of an impact on neural tube defects
in non-Hispanic black births than other racial and ethnic groups,
prompting renewed pressure on...
Food fortified with folic acid slashed rates of neural tube defects
in babies finds new study from Canada that puts weight behind calls
for global fortification of foods, as well as supplement use.
Mothers with low levels of vitamin B12 in their blood may be at
increased risk of having a child with the birth defect spina
bifida, Dutch researchers report.
Japanese pharmaceutical firm Takeda will sell off its stakes in
five non-core joint ventures, including the vitamins business that
it operates with Germany's BASF, according to reports.
Folic acid - the B vitamin found commonly in supplements and
increasingly in a wide range of bread products - is already known
to prevent severe birth defects and to lower risk of death from
heart disease. But it could also help to...
Breakfast cereals fortified with folic acid and other B vitamins
could help consumers protect against heart disease by lowering
levels of homocysteine, suggests new research. The amino acid
homocysteine is increasingly accepted as...
Evidence continues to mount suggesting a link between various
stages of depression and low blood levels of the B vitamin folate,
according to research funded by the Agricultural Research Service
in the US.
Extensive analysis of studies on the power of vitamins A, C and E
or multivitamins to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer
calls highlights need for more evidence.
