Fortifying whole wheat flour with folic acid does not change the prevalence of folate inadequacy nor the percentage of Canadians with intakes above the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)

While folic acid fortification of white wheat flour in Canada has reduced neural tube defects, whole wheat flour does not fall under the current mandate. Our aim was to estimate the impact of adding folic acid to whole wheat flour on the folate intake distribution of Canadians. Twenty‐four hour dietary recalls and supplement intake data collected in the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey 2.2 (n=35,107) were used for the analysis. The amount of folic acid added to whole wheat flour‐containing foods was set to be equivalent to the amount of folic acid in comparable white wheat flour products. SIDE (Software for Intake Distribution Estimation) was used to model distributions of folate intake and to estimate the prevalence of folate inadequacy (POFI) using the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) cut‐point method and the proportion of the population with folic acid intakes >; UL. After folic acid addition to whole wheat foods, the POFI and intakes above the UL did not change among non‐supplement users (95% CIs overlap). Likewise, the POFI and percentages of intakes above the UL did not change after whole wheat flour fortification in supplement users (95% CIs overlap). Mean folate intake increased (432±3 to 454±3 μg DFE, p<0.0001) when whole wheat foods were fortified. In conclusion, adding folic acid to whole wheat flour will not likely change the POFI or proportion of folic acid intakes >; UL among Canadians. YC funded by NSERC‐CGS.Grant Funding Source : NSERC