Thank you for the details, David. As you …
Comment posted on Good news, bad news and more bad news on vitamins by Hugo Ottolenghi
Thank you for the details, David. As you point out, there is confusion. The general media are adding to that with unqualified headlines saying folic acid can be harmful.
Recent comments by Hugo Ottolenghi
- Nutraceutical companies give boost to Wall Street IPO and M&A business
Those figures came from one news report. According to a Reuters article about the IPO, “Vitacost.com had sales of $93.2 million in the first six months of 2009, up 35.6 percent from a year earlier, while net income rose nearly tenfold over the same period to $7.2 million.” - Who pays for product safety and quality?
You are right, Jim, that a combination of forces is more likely to bring about changes. It would be great if industry members challenged each other, as they do through AHPA and other trade associations. I think, though, that consumers will view the associations with skepticism as they are funded and answerable to their members, not to the general public. - Who pays for product safety and quality?
Good point, Dan, about manufacturers saying that they produce quality products. But the conflict of interest remains: the manufacturer is paying for test and, probably, choosing the testing lab. Can the consumer trust the results? An independent third party is needed.
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Item #3 was more complicated than that. It was done in Norway, 70% either current smokers or former smokers, and combined folic acid at 800 ug/d with vitamin B12 at 400 ug/day. The study saw an uptick in all cancer but that was mostly due to lung cancer and not colorectal cancer; earlier studies had seen upticks in colorectal, breast and prostate cancer, but no mention of lung. Within the JAMA study the authors note that all got the same doses, but only those that responded with a high serum folate were at higher risk. And then, two days after the JAMA article, a different study by Wu et al in AJCN reported a trend for lower recurrence of adenoma after years of folic acid at 1000 ug/d, with a better response in the subset that had started with low serum folate. Clearly, the consequences of folic acid fortification and supplement taking are confusing, complex, and likely involve a genetic component.