Closed petition: Ensure access to non-whole meal flour without folic acid fortification

Petition progress

View all updates for this petition, with the most recent first.

• 29 June 2026

  Government responded to this petition

  The Government is mandating folic acid fortification to reduce neural tube defects. The policy applies to non-wholemeal flour, reflecting the existing flour-type already subject to fortification.

  Read the response in full

  The UK Government is mandating the fortification of non-wholemeal wheat flour with folic acid with the primary objective of increasing folic acid intake among women of childbearing age, thereby improving blood folate levels and reducing the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) during pregnancy. The policy is projected to prevent around 200 NTD-affected pregnancies annually—approximately 20 per cent of UK cases. The population-level policy will have the wider benefit of increasing the intake of folic acid and improving folate status across the whole population. Folate, including folic acid, plays an important role in forming healthy red blood cells and maintaining brain health.

  Previous efforts through public health campaigns to promote supplementation, as well as voluntary fortification by manufacturers, have had limited success. Despite longstanding UK public health advice recommending a daily supplement of 400 micrograms of folic acid before conception and during early pregnancy, uptake remains suboptimal, particularly among younger women and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Since almost half of pregnancies in the UK are unplanned, many women may not take supplements during the critical early weeks of gestation.

  The policy has been carefully designed to be proportionate, targeting non-wholemeal wheat flour because it is widely consumed across the population and is the most effective vehicle for delivering the intended public health benefits. This approach is consistent with long-standing UK fortification requirements for wheat flour, including the mandatory addition of calcium, iron, niacin and thiamine, which also apply to non-wholemeal wheat flour produced to organic standards. Not fortifying wider than the type of flour that is presently fortified, means that individuals can avoid fortified flour if they choose to or need to. This includes wholemeal flour, gluten-free products and other flour types such as soya or spelt flour.

  To ensure people can easily identify products that are suitable for them, added vitamins and minerals, including folic acid, must be labelled in the product’s ingredients list. This must also be declared when fortified flour is used as an ingredient.

  The decision to fortify non-wholemeal wheat flour with folic acid has a long history and has been considered both by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), which advises the four UK governments on nutrition-related matters, and its predecessor, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy. Folic acid fortification was recommended by the SACN in 2006, after an extensive review of the evidence on folate and health, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-folate-and-disease-prevention-report. Since then, there have been several further evidence reviews and modelling work (for example: https://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/science-and-evidence/stochastic-modelling-to-estimate-the-potential-impact-of-fortification-of-flour-with-folic-acid-in-the-uk) to establish the level of folic acid to be added to flour, as well as to address concerns about potential adverse effects.

  The level of folic acid chosen for fortification (250 micrograms of folic acid per 100 grams of flour) was based on modelling carried out by Food Standards Scotland, with a view to minimising the risk of the population exceeding the tolerable upper intake level (the Government’s impact assessment is available at the following link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/1162/pdfs/uksiod_20241162_en_001.pdf). Fortifying at higher levels would allow for greater reductions in NTDs but this level was chosen to balance public health benefits with safety.

  The policy has been subject to public consultations, including the 2019 Department of Health and Social Care and devolved governments consultation (available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/adding-folic-acid-to-flour/outcome/proposal-to-add-folic-acid-to-flour-consultation-response) on the proposal to fortify flour with folic acid (including a question on the effect on small businesses), and the 2022 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)-led consultation on the Bread and Flour Regulations. These consultations allowed members of the public, industry and health professionals to provide feedback and were a key part of policy development. Feedback to the Defra consultation highlighted consumer choice as a key concern. Limiting mandatory fortification to non-wholemeal wheat flour helps preserve choice by maintaining the availability of unfortified wholemeal and non-wheat flours. In addition, the policy does not apply to flour produced by small mills (the definition of which is based on their limited production capacity).

  The UK Government and devolved governments are exploring how we will evaluate the impact of the policy.

  Department of Health & Social Care

• 24 June 2026

  Petition closed

• 5 June 2026

  Government will respond to this petition

  This petition got more than 10,000 signatures meaning that government will respond to it.

• 24 December 2025

  Petition published

  This petition can now be signed.

  If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

  If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

  This petition will stay open until 24 June 2026.