-
Source: ONE News -
Watch Video
-
Related
The government has ditched the controversial plan that would have forced bakers to add folic acid to all bread.
The Prime Minister confirmed the move on TVNZ's Q + A programme on Sunday morning.
Key told ONE News political editor Guyon Espiner that the government's clearly stated preferred option is that there is a deferral to the mandatory inclusion of folic acid in bread until May 2012. Effectively that means opting out of a transtasman food standard to add folic acid to bread in a bid to reduce birth defects such as spina bifida.
There will be a public review and discussion before anything is officially signed but it is certain the requirement will be dropped.
And Key says while bakers won't have to put folic acid in their bread in September he hopes they will choose to add it to some of their products, giving consumers a choice.
"It would be my expectation that the bakers would produce a range on a voluntary basis of breads with folic acid so that women of a reproductive age could consider whether it is in their best interests to eat that bread," says Key.
Just a week ago, Food Safety Minister Kate Wilkinson claimed she was bound by the agreement with Australia.
"I don't think it sets a good example if just because we don't like a decision we decide to break the law," Wilkinson said.
But Alasdair Thompson from the Employers and Manufacturers' Association says Wilkson was wrong.
"Just because the last Labour government said we have to go down that path didn't mean to say that Kate Wilkinson had to agree. The Prime Minister has fixed it," Thompson says.
