Wilkinson Kate: Motions — Food Standards—Folic Acid in Bread 
Wilkinson Kate: Motions — Food Standards—Folic Acid in Bread 
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Hon KATE WILKINSON (Minister for Food Safety) 
: 
 I first thank the member for providing a timely reminder as to why New Zealanders kicked the previous administration off the Treasury benches. New Zealanders overwhelmingly opposed Labour’s plan to force them to eat bread fortified with folic acid. They simply did not want it. Mandatory fortification would completely remove consumer choice. It was abundantly clear that this issue was of significant concern to the public. There had been no attempt to forge a voluntary system or focus a campaign on getting young women to eat a healthier diet. We know that folate is important for pregnancy but rather than look at a targeted method Labour wanted to blanket the entire population the vast majority of which does not need it. 
Responding to the public outcry this Government decided to reopen the issue for debate. Numerous issues needed to be worked through including ensuring that our obligations and responsibilities under the food treaty with Australia were met. We met those obligations and then called for public submissions on the matter. The process was completely transparent fair and correct. In fact the process was endorsed by the Hon Phil Goff when he said: “The public is rightly concerned. … Let’s get a review let’s get the information out into the public let’s make an informed decision about it and let’s do it without waiting till they bring it in. … It needs action now. You know if I didn’t know any better I’d say ‘Well what the hell are we doing?’ ”. That was from the Hon Phil Goff. 
The evidence concerning health and safety is well known and the material was freely available. Officials personally contacted a number of key stakeholders to ensure that they were all well aware of the consultation and the associated time frames. The consultation was also advertised in the major daily newspapers. The nature and quality of the submissions is evidence that submitters had every opportunity to make a submission. The New Zealand Food Safety Authority received roughly three times the number of submissions usually received for a routine consultation. A longer consultation period would not have resulted in a different response. 
After carefully considering the submissions it was decided—and the public agreed—that the best way forward was to defer the implementation date to May 2012. In the meantime work on a voluntary standard that would allow some bread to be fortified was instigated. Voluntary fortification has proved successful overseas including in Ireland and should always have been the first step in this debate. 
Progress has been made on voluntary fortification with the establishment of a working group made up of representatives of the baking and retail industries health professionals and academics. At a meeting last month the three main bread manufacturers noted that they are now fortifying a range of both premium and budget brand breads. 
Market research shows that women predominantly eat grain breads and it is those breads that are largely being fortified. The Baking Industry Association has also been encouraging 2000 small bakeries around the country to add folic acid to their breads. The information it sent out has been translated into different languages such as Cambodian and Mandarin to ensure that the message can be received by bakers who speak English as a second language. 
Promoting and implementing voluntary fortification is a pragmatic and sensible approach. It allows for consumer choice while also targeting the folic acid supplement section of the population who most needs it. 
The New Zealand Food Safety Authority has commissioned two pieces of research to help inform the decision on the future of the folic acid standard before the amendment expires in May 2012. This research includes work to be undertaken by Otago University to provide a comparison of the concentration of folate in red blood cells before and after the voluntary fortification initiative started. The second piece of research will be undertaken by Research New Zealand. It will look at women’s awareness and understanding of folic acid in food and its relationship to health. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: This has all been done. This is just delay tactics like blood alcohol. 
Hon KATE WILKINSON 
: Actually we are doing what Mr Goff recommended. A disallowance of the 2009 amendment standard would render all the work being undertaken redundant and is in direct contrast to the wishes of New Zealanders creating more frustration and uncertainty. We do not support the motion to disallow this standard.