The UK will add folic acid to flour – but supplements remain vital before pregnancy

By Danielle Schoenaker, Associate Professor of Preconception Health and Care, University of Southampton
Keith Godfrey, Professor of Epidemiology and Human Development, University of Southampton

Fewer than one in five women in England now take folic acid before pregnancy. This is down from one in four just five years ago.

The decline is worrying because it could undermine the progress that has been made in recent years to prevent serious birth defects linked to low folic acid intake.

Although the UK government has mandated that from December 2026 all non-wholemeal wheat flour must…

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