There are a number
of things to be said about the successful campaign to abort -
and I use the term advisedly - the planned mandatory
supplementation of bread with the vitamin folic acid.
Not least among these is that it was a text-book example of
political lobbying, for which former Dunedin National list MP
Katherine Rich, now chief executive of the food and grocery
council, can take a good deal of credit.
Her political savvy, connections and familiarity with the
media - together with the canny agenda-setting of the
campaign - indicate just how effortlessly she has adapted to
her new role.
It is also a reflection of how similar, in this day and age,
are the skills required by politicians and public relations
operatives: indeed the more cynical observer might say they
are almost entirely interchangeable.
But let's back up a little and rehearse some of the history
of this affair. A campaign has been waged for 20 years or so
to have folic acid (or folate) added back to the bread from
which the natural folate content is stripped during flour
milling.
This followed proof that it was possible to reduce the
incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs) - of which spina
bifida is the most common instance - with vitamin
supplementation.
It is of greatest consequence to women of child-bearing age
who perhaps do not have the best or most balanced of diets,
and to some of those for whom pregnancy is an inevitability,
rather than a lifestyle choice.
The previous Labour-led government, and the National Party in
opposition, supported the initiative and it was given added
impetus by a joint transtasman food regulatory system.
But following substantial pressure, primarily from the baking
industry in the last month or two, a high-profile and
one-sided campaign and, by some accounts, polling indicating
a lack of public appetite for the mandatory fortification,
the Government secured a folate exemption under the terms of
the transtasman agreement.
On Monday, it announced it would release today a discussion
document proposing that the mandatory fortification of bread
with the vitamin be deferred until May 2012.
"The proposal aims to give us more time to evaluate the risks
and benefits of the standard and to take into account the
wishes of New Zealanders," Minister for Food Safety Kate
Wilkinson said.
Game over. How was the campaign so decisively won?
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