Man-made vitamin to be added to bread, pasta and cakes from Dec 13 - new UK flour law

Résumé détaillé

New UK food law comes into force next month, affecting flour

From December 13, 2026, the UK Government will legally require the addition of folic acid (synthetic vitamin B9) to most non-wholemeal (white and brown) wheat flour produced or sold in the UK. The new law means the man-made vitamin will be in everyday items like white bread, pasta, and baked goods made with this flour.

It will be added directly to non-wholemeal common wheat flour (at a rate of 0.25mg per 100g of flour), rather than just injected into finished bread. It affects most white and brown flours, including imported white flour.

Wholemeal flour, gluten-free products, and flour from small-scale independent millers are excluded from this. Non-wholemeal wheat flour in the UK already has mandatory additions of calcium carbonate, iron, thiamin (B1), and niacin (B3)

The decision was made in a bid to help reduce the incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs), such as spina bifida, in pregnancies, particularly unplanned ones. NTDs are serious birth defects of the brain, spine, or spinal cord. They happen very early in pregnancy, usually within the first four weeks, often before a person even knows they are pregnant.

Folic acid is the synthetic, man-made form of vitamin B9, whereas folate is the version found naturally in foods like leafy greens, beans, and citrus fruits. Although they are the same essential nutrient, food manufacturers and health authorities use synthetic folic acid for fortification because natural folate is fragile and easily destroyed by heat during baking and cooking.

The UK Government is adding synthetic folic acid to non-wholemeal wheat flour primarily to prevent around 200 cases of serious birth defects, such as spina bifida, every year. Because a baby's brain and spine begin forming within the first four weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman even realises she is pregnant, taking vitamin tablets after a positive test is frequently too late.

Roughly half of all UK pregnancies are unplanned, and only a third of women take supplements before…

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