• current label data for foods where no analytical values were available, without adjustment for potential under- or overages of folic acid; and
• recipe calculation for foods that contain a folic acid fortified food as one of their ingredients (e.g. chocolate crackles that contain fortified puffed rice breakfast cereal).
The effect of cooking foods was also taken into account when constructing the folic acid concentration database. For example, when cooking bread to make toast, both losses in folic acid from heat and weight change factors due to moisture losses when making bread into toast were taken into account.
Concentration data used for various foods for dietary modelling purposes were mainly based on the analytical data. The Australian NNS does not distinguish between the consumption of folic acid fortified white bread from unfortified white bread. The market share for folic acid fortified bread in Australia was estimated at 15% of all breads, based on sales information for a major bakery retail chain (Bakers Delight, 2006). A value representing 15% of the analysed or labelled concentration of folic acid in fortified breads was assigned to all white breads.
New Zealand 1997 NNS provided separate consumption amounts for some fortified versus unfortified breads. Where fortification status was specified, folic acid concentrations were assumed only for those foods. Based on available information, fortification of breads with folic acid does not appear to be as common in New Zealand as in Australia. Note that Bakers Delight bread in NZ does not contain folic acid.
Information from the above mentioned four sources was matched against the 1995 Australian and 1997 New Zealand NNS food codes for all those foods identified as being fortified with folic acid (149/4,550 foods in Australia and 101/4,950 foods in New Zealand). All other foods recorded as being consumed were assumed not to contain added folic acid. The lists of foods assumed to currently contain added folic acid are detailed in Appendix 2 (Table A2.1 for Australia and Table A2.2 for New Zealand).
Baseline concentration data for foods voluntarily fortified with folic acid were revised following the Final Assessment for Australia and New Zealand due to new data collected in 2006 becoming available to FSANZ. The results showed an increase in mean folic acid intakes for the revised Baseline for each population group assessed by FSANZ at FAR. The increase in estimated mean Baseline dietary folic acid intakes for the target group was +13 àg/day and +4 àg/day for Australia and New Zealand, respectively.
2.2.2 Mandatory Fortification
2.2.2.1 Australia – mandatory folic acid fortification of ‘wheat flour for making bread’
This model was conducted to estimate dietary folic acid intakes where mandatory folic acid fortification of ‘wheat flour for making bread’ is permitted in Australia at 200 àg folic acid per 100 g of bread-making flour.
This model assumes that the introduction of mandatory folic acid fortification of ‘wheat flour for making bread’ will have no impact on the current uptake of voluntary folic acid
permissions by industry, with the exception of existing voluntary folic acid permissions for all breads. The Baseline folic acid concentrations in foods were revised for the First Review.
The Mandatory Fortification model includes Baseline folic acid concentrations for all foods other than breads and other foods assumed to contain ‘wheat flour for making bread’ as a result of mandatory folic acid fortification of all wheat bread-making flour at 200 àg per 100 g of bread-making flour.
It does not take into account naturally occurring folates in food or folic acid from the use of folic acid supplements or multi-vitamin supplements containing folic acid.
Folic acid concentrations were estimated based on the proportion of ‘wheat flour for making bread’ that a food contains and on the final concentration of folic acid assumed to be
delivered in the ‘wheat flour for making bread’. For example for white bread, the folic acid concentrations were calculated as follows:
Proportion of ‘wheat flour for making bread’ in white bread = 60%
Final concentration of folic acid in flour after baking = 200 àg folic acid/100 g Folic acid concentration in white bread =
=
0.6 x 200 àg folic acid/ 100 g bread 120 àg folic acid/ 100 g bread These estimates do not take into account potential losses of folic acid during storage. The proportions of ‘wheat flour for making bread’ in foods were estimated based on recipe information from the 1997 New Zealand NNS or from recipe information in the FSANZ dietary modelling computer program, DIAMOND.
Figure 1a outlines the foods that were deemed to contain ‘wheat flour for making bread’ for the purposes of the dietary intake assessment. For a summary of folic acid concentration data used for Mandatory Fortification, see Appendix 2 (Table A2.1).
2.2.2.2 New Zealand – mandatory folic acid fortification of ‘all breads’
The Mandatory Fortification model estimated dietary folic acid intakes for each population group resulting from mandatory folic acid fortification of ‘all bread’ in New Zealand at 135 àg folic acid per 100 g of bread. Figure 1b outlines the foods that were deemed to be
‘bread’ for the purposes of the dietary intake assessment.
This model assumes that the introduction of mandatory folic acid fortification of ‘all bread’
will have no impact on the current uptake of voluntary folic acid permissions by industry, with the exception of existing voluntary folic acid permissions for white, brown, wholemeal, grain and rye breads. Therefore,this model includes Baseline folic acid concentrations for all foods other than bread, and folic acid concentrations for bread as a result of mandatory folic acid fortification at 135 àg folic acid per 100 g of bread.
It does not take into account naturally occurring folates in food or folic acid from the use of folic acid supplements or multi-vitamin supplements containing folic acid.
For a summary of folic acid concentration data used for Mandatory Fortification see Appendix 2 (Table A2.2).