Contribution of folic acid-fortified foods to fertile women's folate Recommended Nutrient Intake through breakfast simulation models.

Objective: To assess the potential contribution of foods fortified with folic acid (FA) to target population intakes when included as part of a healthy breakfast.

Design: Breakfast models aligned with the Spanish Dietary Guidelines were studied using the recommended, average and 95th percentile of serving sizes consumed by women of childbearing age. Food composition data were obtained from a database including FA analytical data from sixty-eight products and the Spanish food composition tables. Different scenarios were assessed with the inclusion of one, two or three FA-fortified products and with two different fortification levels: ≤ 33 µg/serving (L1) and ≥ 70 µg/serving (L4). FA contents provided by the different models for each scenario were compared with the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) for folate and the Upper Level (UL) of intake for FA.

Setting: Madrid Region, Spain.

Subjects: Women aged 16-49 years were considered.

Results: Overall, simulation of ten breakfast models and three scenarios of product inclusion accounted for 20-25% of total daily energy recommendations for women. Unfortified breakfast models provided on average 4-23% of the folate RNI. Inclusion of one L4 FA-fortified food contributed 20-60% of the RNI. Fortified yoghurt and milk had the highest FA contents per serving. Scenarios with two or three fortified products delivered 40-80% of the RNI. None of the evaluated models exceeded the FA UL.

Conclusions: At existing levels of FA fortification, inclusion of fortified products as part of a regular breakfast meal could positively impact the nutritional quality of women's diet without involving a risk of excessive FA exposure.