"Vitamin B9 May Not Always Be Benign"
Abstract
Three weeks ago, a headline in the The Guardian newspaper read “Folic acid to be added to UK flour in effort to reduce birth defects”. The news article, which refers to a paper published earlier in 2018, states (in error) that this action in the UK is now possible because the safe upper level of folic acid intake in the US DRIs is no longer dependable. Flour fortification with folic acid was mandated in 1996 in the US for the prevention of neural tube defects (NTD) and can be regarded as a positive public health intervention especially for women of childbearing age. However, denial of the growing evidence of adverse effects related to interaction between high folic acid intake and vitamin B12 deficiency or the possibility that folic acid fortification and/or supplementation may be associated with adverse effects in some elderly racial/genetic subgroups is a major concern that is being overlooked. Denying the existence of these adverse effects will prevent further and more methodological studies to understand the mechanism and risk of adverse effects of adding folic acid in substantial amounts to any nation’s food supply by fortification and/or supplementation. Arguably decision to fortify staple foods in any country without the ability to monitor either positive or adverse effects represents questionable public health policy and practice even in the face of well-meaning advocacy campaigns.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Irwin Rosenberg is University Professor of Nutrition and Medicine at Tufts University's USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. He was educated through University of Wisconisonin Madison, Wisconsin and received his M.D. at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Rosenberg was appointed Director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts in 1986 and then Dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in 1993. His research interests include the impact of diet and nutrition on aging brain functions with special reference to the vitamins Folic acid and B 12. Dr. Rosenberg was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and served as chair of its Food and Nutrition Board. He is recent editor of the Food and Nutrition Bulletin and former editor of the Nutrition Reviews and the Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter.