National Governments, such as the ones in the UK, Australia and Ireland, are currently considering folic acid fortification of wheat or bread in order to reduce the risk of NTDs in babies. Fortification of wheat flour has been accepted and put into practice in a number of countries, including the USA, Canada and Chile.

However, critics claim that the average person would have to eat a vast amount of fortified bread in order to benefit from the positive health implications connected with folic acid and warn that many people - including the crucial group of women of childbearing age - do not eat bread at all. In order to obtain more accurate data on this issue, more research needs to be done.

Committees tasked with implementing these policies have to address the technical problems connected with bread fortification, consider the benefits and risks associated with fortification and to understand the long-term implications of fortified bread intake. Recent studies have suggested that an over-average intake of folic acid can lead to masking the deficiency syndromes of another B vitamin - vitamin B12. Therefore, an intake of folic acid should not be too high to prevent consumers from discovering vitamin B12 deficiency too late, that is only after the lack of the vitamin has already damaged the nerve system. Cognitive defects in the elderly are also suspected to be related with an increased intake of folic acid.

In Ireland, the Committee recommended the mandatory fortification with folic acid of most white, brown and whole-meal breads on sale.

But, how do you know how much folic acid each demographic group of the population will be exposed to from their diverse eating habits when the new fortification recommendation comes into force?