EFSA Approves Folate Claim for Neural Tube Defects
Panel also issues dosage recommendations.
The EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition, and Allergies has decreed that there is sufficient scientific evidence to support the benefit of maternal folate supplementation as it relates to reducing the risk of neural tube defects in infants. In addition, the panel recommended a daily dose of 400 μg of folate for at least one month before and up to three months after conception.
The decision came as the result of a filing from Rank Nutrition Ltd. (Kent, UK), an independent nutrition science consultancy.
The EFSA decision comes some 15 years after the U.S. FDA’s recognition of the connection between folate supplementation and neural tube defects and the subsequent fortification of grain-based products with folic acid-a move that contributed to the reduction of American neural tube birth defects by about 36% (Centers for Disease Control).
HHS announces restructuring plans to consolidate divisions and downsize workforce
Published: March 27th 2025 | Updated: March 27th 2025According to the announcement, the restructuring will save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year by reducing the workforce by 10,000 full-time employees and consolidating the department’s 28 divisions into 15 new divisions.
