The compulsory addition of folic acid to bread will strip consumers of choice and risks downstream cost hikes, says Breadcraft owner Peter Rewi.
"It takes away consumer choices, particularly with something as universal as bread; and unfortunately anything added has a cost ramification and may lead to changes in prices," Mr
Rewi said.
He said the Masterton bakery, which employs about 100 people as one of the largest specialty bread bakers in New Zealand, has made several submissions to Government and the Food Standards Australia New Zealand agency opposing the compulsory addition of folic acid to most commercially baked breads.
From September all bread, except unleavened and organic varieties, must contain 80 to 100 micrograms of the synthetic chemical per 100g of bread.
Women can cut the risk of babies having neural-tube defects such as spina bifida if adequate folic acid is ingested in the weeks before conception and during early pregnancy.
The food agency predicts mandatory fortification of bread with folic acid at the level it has stipulated will reduce the number of births affected by neural tube defects by four to 14 a year.
"We're very, very keen to minimise the dangers of low folate in pregnancy but we'd like to see a different approach, not mass dosage and the use of bread as a chemist shop," he said.
Mr Rewi said the addition of folic acid would not change the taste of the bread and the major cost change for bakers would be packaging.
He prefers voluntary fortification as is practised today although repackaging would again be a cost to bakers should the compulsory rule be revoked or changed.
Minister of Food Safety Kate Wilkinson has spoken out against the imminent change, which her predecessor Annette King championed, and is seeking a review despite advice that a reversal could adversely affect transtasman relations.
The Ministry of Health says despite the mandatory fortification, women planning a pregnancy will still need to take a folic acid supplement for at least a month before conception and 12 weeks afterwards. Some studies have reported an association between folic acid ingestion and an increased risk of colon cancer and a masking of vitamin B12 deficiency, which could lead to neurological damage if left undetected.
