This is about supermarket breads - Please no lectures on the evils of eating "plastic bag bread". Do people remember the controversy last year about adding Folic acid to bread? Did you know that folic acid has actually been added now? I had no idea. Check your bread bags -my friend and I compared a few different bags ( Couplands, Quality Bakers, Tip Top, Sunny Crust) and all of themlisted Folic Acid as an ingredient.
uli,
Apr 30, 7:45am
Yes - it was a new LAW - so why would it not have been implemented?
tixy,
Apr 30, 7:53am
I didnt realise it was a new law - i thought it was up for public debate and that it hadnt been implemented yet.
If it is a law, why do other brands not have it? The "Ploughman" loaf does not have folic acid.
joybells2,
Apr 30, 7:54am
We have made our own bread for about 12 years now. Buy a bread maker and make your own. No worries then.
maxwell.inc,
Apr 30, 8:00am
Law was put on hold for 4 years... to be "re-assessed" then (2013), it was not passed it was still in the "implementation" stage.
tixy,
Apr 30, 8:02am
We do make MOST of our bread - but there is the occasional loaf in the freezer(with three boys in the house, there is always a hungry mouth looking for a sammie! ) I Just thought that as a consumer, we would have known when they introduced folic acid - especialy considering the uproar when they first suggested it.
uli,
Apr 30, 8:03am
It is still voluntary till 31 May 2012 - by which time ALL commercial breads must have it added. Meanwhile some manufacturers are starting to change already.
It is a very dubious practice - and I read somewhere that you'd need to eat 12 slices of bread a day to actually get the amount you need if pregnant - not sure if that is correct - or if someone made a calculation error.
Not really interested myself - but you can read about it all on the page of the NZ "food safety" authority... .
Thanks Uli. I was a bit surprised to see it had already been introduced, when we, Joe Public, had no idea. Seems pointless to me - I know when I had my wee buns the oven, I figured I wasresponsible for them - not the rest of the bread eating nation! I have read also that excess folic acid can increase the chances of prostate cancer in men.
uli,
Apr 30, 8:36am
... and a lot of other stuff as well ...
hestia,
Apr 30, 11:42pm
So what are you saying, that the amount is too little to be effective?
hestia,
Apr 30, 11:44pm
So what are you saying, that the amount is great enough to cause adverse reactions?
uli,
May 1, 12:11am
hestia - I would suggest you do your own research - I am sick and tired of being attacked on here - and via phone at my home - so I will not write anything more on the matter.
tixy asked a question and I answered it - everything else I have researched is not looking good as far as I can see - however go and do your own research and come to your own conclusions.
I do not buy supermarket bread - so I am not worried what they put into it. If you are - go and educate yourself.
greerg,
May 1, 7:24am
Too little to be effective with respect to neural tube defects in babies unless a very large amount is eaten. Given the dodgy state of a lot of women's stomachs during the first twelve weeks which isthe critical period for the baby it seems a strange way of solving a problem.
buzzy110,
May 1, 9:28am
I also remember that the law was going to encompass flour as well to prevent people from opting out. Is this still in the proposal? If so it would appear that a few men getting prostate cancer are considered irrelevant in the scheme of things. Wouldn't want any man in my family suffering this cruel and debilitating disease.
So glad I have my own flour mill coming my way and that I make my own, gluten neutral sourdough breads.
hestia,
May 1, 9:53am
Then its purpose is supposed to be as a supplement. You can get other sources of folic acid from the food you eat, fortified bread just supplements that. Sources of folic acid: liver, yeast extract, green leafy vegetables, baked beans, raw spinach, green peas, broccoli, egg noodles, avocado, peanuts, lettuce, wheat germ, tomato juice and orange juice.
maxwell.inc,
May 1, 10:01am
Yes . . but. . and there is a BUT... Women who don't actively take Folic acid (400mg {TTC}, 800mg {conceived}a day recommended) while TTC or as part of a Multi supplement during their child bearing years, generally DON'T eat a good diet of the above foods anyway... and that was the idea with the mass medication of the bread. . because NZers as a whole eat a sh! t diet, and we need our hands held by the state.
However, if you want to catch all these women "falling thru the cracks" of a good diet. . then your going to have to do something better than medicate the bread don't you think?
Its totally POINTLESS mass medicating to save 4 children a year from NTD. . pointless... all it will do is up bowel cancer rates for men and who knows what else.
Women who don't take care of their bodies during their child bearing years are going to have problems irregardless of F/A in bread... Pointless.
buzzy110,
May 1, 11:19am
I remember this discussion a while back. A gentleman came in to berate us for our opposition because we lacked a heart. You see his child was born with spina bifida, and somehow, our opposition to being mass medicated translated into us not caring about the 4 unborn souls. But we do care about them don't we maxwell?
How often, have we tried, in this forum to tell people that they need to eat a proper diet for the health of their families, themselves and their unborn children? How often have we been abused for doing that?
The gentleman in question failed to accept that it was the selfish disregard shown by his female mate toward her unborn and not-yet-conceived offspring, that resulted in their misfortune. We were not responsible and therefore should not be punished for her disregard for the well being of her future children.
bedazzledjewels,
May 1, 7:32pm
The less the Government interferes by telling us what to eat, the better in my opinion. The more they regulate, the less self-responsibility people will take about food. In a perfect world though I suppose all babies would be treasured and wanted, and pregnant mothers would watch their diet carefully to do the best for the child.
bunny51,
May 1, 8:27pm
I read somewhere too that you need to eat 12 slices of bread to have sufficient folic acid from bread. Seems a lot of bread to hav eot eat, especially when we are aso supposed to be watching what we eat because of an increase in obesity.
Also I thought organic bread/flour was going to be exempt from having folic acid added to it. (Could be wrong there though, just thought I had read it somewhere a while ago)
maxwell.inc,
May 1, 10:11pm
Yep organic will be exempt. . flour is exempt. . (however watch where its coming from - country of origin - if its not NZ made then its already fortified)
tixy,
May 2, 7:23am
"it was the selfish disregard shown by his female mate toward her unborn and not-yet-conceived offspring, that resulted in their misfortune" (quote Buzzy110)
Buzzy110, that is totally out of line. I appreciate your thoughts on the matter of Folic Acid in bread, but you have no right to publicly make huge assumptions about peoples misfortunes in that manner. Folic acid is NOT the only pre-determining factor in stopping babies being born with NTD.
st_allie,
May 2, 11:39pm
I bought Pams high grade flour this morning at pak n save. . says Wheat Flour 100% 'made in nz from local and imported wheats'. . so nothing added to it by the looks.
buzzy110,
May 3, 12:22am
txy I appreciate that there may be other factors, however, this man stated quite forcefully that we were the selfish ones for opposing fortified bread and that we didn't care about the 4 babies born every year with spina bifida. he couldn't have made his feelings more plain. they along these lines, "if it stops 4 babies (and his was one) being born with spina bifida then we should all welcome the addition of folic acid to our bread, no matter the cost to others". To me that is pretty selfish.
buzzy110,
May 3, 12:36am
However, the reported side effects of adding folic acid/folate to foods have not included the effects on women. I could be polite and keep my mouth perfectly shut and not get upset that parents of spina bifida children would prefer we all suffer because of their inability to eat folic acid containing foods or I can rebel.
So tixy, when you start finding that you are not only having very heavy menstrual flows, but also they are lasting longer and occurring more frequently, you will think of me, because that is a side effect of folic acid fortification on some women. You may think of rude old me when you have a gyneacologist 'hurting' you and wanting to book you in for unnecessary surgical procedures. These things happened to me as I am sensitive to the effects of artificial folic acid.
So as you can see I have some really strong feelings about fortification and women who don't eat a proper diet.
Lucky me, I took responsibility for my health and found the cause before my gynie could do anymore damage.
cookessentials,
May 3, 12:52am
Where do you get off making these types of comments buzzy? All the more reason you need to pull your head in in regards to the comments you make over other peoples health -completely out of line. You have no formal training in either the medical or health field do you?
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