title: [Folic acid supplementation--voluntary enrichment of different foodstuffs or mandatory fortification of a single staple food?].
abstract: Regular, customary nutrition is not sufficient to cover the recommended daily intake of 400 microg of folic acid as it has been defined by several scientific committees. The provision of various foodstuffs enriched with folic acid would therefore seem to be justified. Whether such products would have a prophylactic effect against different homocysteine-associated diseases of the second part of life is not (yet) proven but certainly a well founded hypothesis. It has been shown that for the prevention of neural tube defects and other embryonic malformations, as well as malignancies of early childhood a pharmaceutical supply of 0,4-0,8 mg before and during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is required. Mandatory general fortification of all grain products would be an attractive alternative to meet this goal. This measure has been successful in many countries, mainly on the North American continent. The controversy surrounding possible mandatory folic acid fortification of flour in our country is discussed.
authors.affiliation: o.toenz@bluewin.ch
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tönz
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004035:Diet Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000592:standards / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005527:Food, Fortified; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009656:North America
chemical_list: D005492:Folic Acid