Oscar P

Quality food costs more. A fact of life, right? Better, more expensive, ingredients, prepared more expertly, by higher skilled, higher paid people, packaged more carefully and nicely and perhaps transported a long distance. This Crosta Mollica Italian pizza is on offer at £5 in Morrisons now. The Morrisons own brand one is half the price, at 2 for £5. While we expect to pay more for better quality, in a modern Western country we should have a reasonable expectation of a minimum level of safety, even in cheap products. The Italian made pizza does not contain folic acid (or any other additives). The British made Morrisons one, like all goods made in Britain with non wholemeal flour, does now contain folic acid. How much? We don't know for sure because the lebel doesn't tell us. But we can do an estimate based on the details of the UK legislation. From next month, by law, non-wholemeal wheat flour must be fortified with 250 µg (0.25 mg) folic acid per 100 g of flour If we do some sums (included in the next post to keep things simple here) a reasonable estimate for the amount of folic acid in this pizza is 300 micrograms. "So what?", you may say. Folic acid is folate which ia a vitamin and it's good for us! NO! Folic acid is a synthetic molecule which is different from the natural folate (vutamin B9) found in many foods, and behaves differently in the body. "So what?" you may still say. 300 micrograms is a tiny amount. It's safe! Also NO! Firstly, lots of people will eat a lot more flour in one day besides one pizza, so their daily total will often be far more than 400 micrograms. White flour is in all sorts of foods, often in very unexpected places. And in many existing vitamin supplements. And, more importantly, some years ago a recommendation was made to the UK Chief Medical Officer that people aged over 50 should not consume more than 200 micrograms per day in folic acid supplementation, because of research showing an increased risk of colon cancer. And yet, the government is now mandating the addition of this chemical to all non-wholemeal flour, meaning it is in countless everyday foods like pizza, consumed by millions. And this is all before we get into the fact that the NHS recommends that people with cancer or a heart stent avoid folic acid supplementation entirely. What the hell is going on here? Hey, Food Standards Agency @foodgov : Your website says that you are "responsible for food safety and food hygiene in England, Wales and Northern Ireland" Are you asleep? "Non Per Tutti" says the Crosta Mollica packaging. Not For Everyone. £5 pizzas may not be for everyone. But everyone should have a reasonable expectation that food on sale in British shops won't make them sick. Don't you think? 🧵1/4

Knowing how many mistakes HMRC make, this will not end well.