BTW,
Bread you make yourself, is actually better for you, psychologically as well,
it goes back to the days of the Middle Ages, when people milled the wheat and made the yeast.
I've made my own for the last 20 years, in the oven.
You have a better idea of what goes into your bread, not all the bleaching agents and colourings and flavour additives.
White bread these days is a joke, no fibre what-so-ever, although the ads tell you otherwise.
Commercial bakers work on glut, not quality, our kids are eating this low quality crap.

I concur,homemade bread is the way to go,i have been doing so for a few years now,but grind your own grain,buying ready milled flour without knowing it's history is counter productive.

Now wtf....I am glad for our awesome bread here right now. It seems that the USA has already adopted this policy. Some findings of my brief internet research:

Food Safety Minister Kate Wilkinson says she will seek a review of the use of folic acid in bread - but not until a month after bakers have started adding it.

Folic acid prevents some birth defects, and the idea of putting it in bread is so women who do not know they are pregnant get the protection.

[...]

Bakers are angry about the decision, saying it adds unreasonable costs and will not work. They say women would need to eat 11 slices of bread a day to get the required dose.

On TV One's Q&A programme, Ms Wilkinson faced criticism from Green MP Sue Kedgley, then presenter Paul Holmes, followed by all three members of the analysis panel.

Ms Kedgley said New Zealand did not have to go through with a standard - or could at least delay it - given new research had subsequently come to light showing risks. She pointed out Ireland and Britain were delaying implementation.


Holmes was upset by research that showed a possible link between folic acid use and cancer - he has previously suffered prostate cancer.

Ms Wilkinson said the research on risks was "light" and that she was legally obliged to follow through on the standard.

"We have to abide by the rules, we have to do it within the system, within the joint regulatory system, and we're doing it ...

"It doesn't set a good example if just because we don't like a decision we decide to break the law."

[...]

Political scientist Jon Johansson, on the panel, joined in the criticism.

"She's the Minister for Food Safety, and that means her job is to make sure that all food that we eat in this country is safe."

[...]

Folic acid is not being added to organic bread. In Australia it is being added to all wheat flour used to make bread. That was proposed here but the Greens and others argued against it.

Former Food Safety Minister Annette King said when the decision was made that it was "a triumph for humanity and common sense".

She expected the change would see four to 14 fewer (Feck: So it is totally worth it...wooohaaaa) neural tube defect-affected pregnancies a year, but admitted women would not get the recommended 400 microgram daily intake from bread alone.

- NZPA

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10584064

[...]

"The minister's plan is bad science and defies logic. The minister recently confirmed that the pregnant women she is targeting will need to eat 11 slices of bread a day to get their recommended dose of folic acid," he said.

"Women statistically aren't big bread eaters.

"Targeting the small number of women at risk with folic acid supplements is a much more effective strategy than blasting the entire New Zealand population."

Bakers had suggested to the Government voluntarily fortifying a range of breads and supplementing the move with an advertising campaign, but that had been rejected, Powell said.

Bakers wanted Wilkinson to delay implementation of the standard, using her authority under the Food Act, until concerns had been further investigated, he said.

[...]

It said between 80 and 130 babies died or were seriously disabled by neural tube defects each year.

"Most of these deaths or serious disabilities would be preventable by simply adding a trace of vitamin to replace what is stripped out of the wheat in the milling process," it said.

Labour health spokeswoman Ruth Dyson said her party was pleased the Government was going through with the introduction of folic acid to bread.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/heal...e-health-worry

Most epidemiologic studies suggest that diets high in folate are associated with decreased risk of breast cancer, but results are not uniformly consistent: one broad cancer screening trial reported a potential harmful effect of much folate intake on breast cancer risk, suggesting that routine folate supplementation should not be recommended as a breast cancer preventive,[58] but a 2007 Swedish prospective study found that much folate intake was associated with lear incidence of postmenopausal breast cancer.[59] A 2008 study has shown no significant effect of folic acid on overall risk of total invasive cancer or breast cancer among women.[60]

In men folic acid supplementation appears to double the risk of prostate cancer.[61]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folic_acid

Data regarding the association between folate status and risk of prostate cancer are sparse and conflicting. We studied prostate cancer occurrence in the Aspirin/Folate Polyp Prevention Study, a placebo-controlled randomized trial of aspirin and folic acid supplementation for the chemoprevention of colorectal adenomas conducted between July 6, 1994, and December 31, 2006. Participants were followed for up to 10.8 (median = 7.0, interquartile range = 6.0–7.8) years and asked periodically to report all illnesses and hospitalizations. Aspirin alone had no statistically significant effect on prostate cancer incidence, but there were marked differences according to folic acid treatment. Among the 643 men who were randomly assigned to placebo or supplementation with folic acid, the estimated probability of being diagnosed with prostate cancer over a 10-year period was 9.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.5% to 14.5%) in the folic acid group and 3.3% (95% CI = 1.7% to 6.4%) in the placebo group (age-adjusted hazard ratio = 2.63, 95% CI = 1.23 to 5.65, Wald test P = .01). In contrast, baseline dietary folate intake and plasma folate in nonmultivitamin users were inversely associated with risk of prostate cancer, although these associations did not attain statistical significance in adjusted analyses. These findings highlight the potential complex role of folate in prostate cancer and the possibly different effects of folic acid–containing supplements vs natural sources of folate.

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/c...bstract/djp019

Oh my....what is going on again. I guess that would be the main reason to support green - better food.

Is New Zealand that socialist that they force breadmakers to do that?

One concerned woman writes about it here.

http://www.transitiontowns.org.nz/node/1681

Probably as socialist as the USA (which already do this)...

Quote from MikeT

Over here in NZ, the Government has announced that folic acid will be added to all commercially available bread.
This idea was started by the feminist Labo(u)r Government, with the obvious idea that if it helped women and children, it was "cost-neutral".
Now, the folic acid, is supposed to prevent a certain type of birth defect that is present only in 1 in 1500 births and can harm the mother.
Folic acid is known to cause prostate cancer in men and exacerbate the condition of those that already have it.

So,
If the Government here keeps up with this tripe, it just goes to show what 2nd class citizens us men have become.

What a pack of fuck-wits.

Good time to buy a bread maker, guys.

Your country is in no better shape then mine!

Quote from MikeT

Over here in NZ, the Government has announced that folic acid will be added to all commercially available bread.
This idea was started by the feminist Labo(u)r Government, with the obvious idea that if it helped women and children, it was "cost-neutral".
Now, the folic acid, is supposed to prevent a certain type of birth defect that is present only in 1 in 1500 births and can harm the mother.
Folic acid is known to cause prostate cancer in men and exacerbate the condition of those that already have it.

So,
If the Government here keeps up with this tripe, it just goes to show what 2nd class citizens us men have become.

What a pack of fuck-wits.


Good time to buy a bread maker, guys.

I've used a bread-maker. It's cost effective and makes better bread.
For one thing, you don't need preservatives!

Feckless,
Thanks for dragging them articles up.

Sue "I'm a Vegan" Kedgeley has always wanted to control what we eat, if she had her way, we'd be dining on roots and leaves.

She put a law through that banned "all junk food" from our schools,
what is wrong with that you ask?, well wait for the idea of what she calls "junk food" (anything with meat in it, soft drinks, bread that does not have organic ingredients).

Does anyone else see an agenda here?

She has no problem with affecting half the population, if the other half is happy, with respect to the folic acid?
Oh well, if there are more men dieing, that means that more women will have to work longer hours doing the jobs left by them men.

9 to 5?, forget that, try 7 to 8, or even 9, plus paper-work when you get home.
And that is a solid days work too, you will be standing up or crawling somewhere dirty, full of spiders and you could be crawling over broken glass or sharp metal bits.
No time to be gossiping on the phone or wasting time on the Net, down-time is not in most men's vocabulary when they are at work, unless something is broken down, which you will more than likely have to fix.

That's how it is in this guy's nest, 6 days a week.

Lovely isn't it?

Quote from MikeT

Now, the folic acid, is supposed to prevent a certain type of birth defect that is present only in 1 in 1500 births and can harm the mother.
Folic acid is known to cause prostate cancer in men and exacerbate the condition of those that already have it.

Folic acid is also good for the heart, for both sexes. Not that this fact makes it okay to forcibly medicate people.

Quote from MikeT

Feckless,
Thanks for dragging them articles up.

Sue "I'm a Vegan" Kedgeley has always wanted to control what we eat, if she had her way, we'd be dining on roots and leaves.

She put a law through that banned "all junk food" from our schools,
what is wrong with that you ask?, well wait for the idea of what she calls "junk food" (anything with meat in it, soft drinks, bread that does not have organic ingredients).

Does anyone else see an agenda here?

She has no problem with affecting half the population, if the other half is happy, with respect to the folic acid?
Oh well, if there are more men dieing, that means that more women will have to work longer hours doing the jobs left by them men.

9 to 5?, forget that, try 7 to 8, or even 9, plus paper-work when you get home.
And that is a solid days work too, you will be standing up or crawling somewhere dirty, full of spiders and you could be crawling over broken glass or sharp metal bits.
No time to be gossiping on the phone or wasting time on the Net, down-time is not in most men's vocabulary when they are at work, unless something is broken down, which you will more than likely have to fix.

That's how it is in this guy's nest, 6 days a week.

Lovely isn't it?

Ouch.

Btw folic acid apparently also harms older women. So its not even going to help women. just a few women.

Here's a list of other foods high in folic acid:

Foods high in folic acid

Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal

Enriched wheat tortilla

Enriched white bread

Enriched pasta

Whole wheat bread

Whole wheat pasta

Lentils

Black-eyed peas

Pinto beans

Chickpeas

Sunflower seeds

Okra

Orange juice

Spinach

Asparagus

Collards

Grapefruit/pineapple juice

What this article (see link) seems to be saying is that it may be risky for men to take folic acid supplements. It states that men get all the folic acid they really need just by eating fruits, veggies, and fortified breads and cereals. It's taking supplements on top of what you already eat, that might put you at greater risk for prostate cancer. But if in doubt, you could always bake your own bread (check to see if the flour you use is fortified..), and cut back some on foods that are high in folic acid..

http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer...er-risk?page=2

Quote from TERA

What this article (see link) seems to be saying is that it may be risky for men to take folic acid supplements. It states that men get all the folic acid they really need just by eating fruits, veggies, and fortified breads and cereals. It's taking supplements on top of what you already eat, that might put you at greater risk for prostate cancer. But if in doubt, you could always bake your own bread (check to see if the flour you use is fortified..), and cut back some on foods that are high in folic acid..

http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer...er-risk?page=2

Tera it is not about baking your own bread. I mean where to stop.

Don´t worry about geniticaly enhanced vegetables, you can grow your own vegetables.

Don´t worry about antibiotica in meat, you can raise your own cattle.

The point is CHOICE. We have a right to choose what we want to eat. Forcing us to accept food suplements vs making our own food is not choice.

It might be a smart move, but shouldn´t be necessary.