Ever glanced at the ingredients list on a loaf of bread and noticed those brackets crammed with vitamins after "wheat flour"? They might look harmless, even beneficial but there's a troubling story behind why these synthetic nutrients are there in the first place, and what they might be doing to your body.
With folic acid now being mandatory for regular grain products across supermarket shelves from 2026, it's time we examined the real reason behind fortification and the potential harm these cheap synthetic vitamins may cause.
The history of fortification
Grain fortification wasn't born from a desire to make food more nutritious. It emerged in the early 20th century as a workaround, a way to compensate for the nutritional devastation caused by industrial milling.
When roller milling spread it revolutionised grain production, but not in a good way for human health. Grains were systematically stripped of their bran and germ to extend shelf life and create a uniform, white product. This process removed fibre, minerals, healthy fats, and naturally occurring vitamins that humans had consumed for millennia as part of the whole grain. What remained was essentially refined starch with minimal nutritional value.
As deficiency diseases surged in populations now dependent on white flour, governments faced a choice: restore traditional whole grain consumption or patch the problem with added nutrients. They chose the patch.
The wartime push
During World War II, maintaining the productivity of soldiers and factory workers became paramount, accelerating fortification policies. In 1941, the United States formalised enrichment standards with FDA support, while the UK implemented similar wartime nutrition programs. Both countries fortified white flour with inexpensive, synthetic B vitamins and iron, compounds chosen primarily for cost, stability, and ease of mass production rather than biological equivalence to natural nutrients.
Now including folic acid, further normalises a troubling idea: that nutrients could be stripped from food during processing and simply replaced later with isolated, laboratory-made substitutes.
Fortification fundamentally reframed nutrition as a matter of adding cheap synthetic vitamins back into depleted foods, reinforcing a food system that prioritises shelf life and profit margins over genuine nutrient density, metabolic health, and the integrity of real food.
The dark side of synthetic vitamins
The specific compounds added to fortified flour reveal a system built on convenience rather than biology. These typically include folic acid (synthetic B9), iron (usually reduced iron or ferrous sulphate), thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (often as niacinamide), and sometimes vitamin B6 and calcium.
These aren't chosen because they work best in the human body. They're selected for low cost, long shelf life, and chemical stability. Unlike nutrients in whole foods, they're isolated, highly concentrated, and stripped of the cofactors that normally regulate how your body absorbs, metabolises, and distributes them.
The iron problem
One of the most concerning additions is synthetic, unbound iron. Unlike the iron naturally present in food, which is bound to proteins and tightly regulated by your body, reduced iron and ferrous sulfate are highly reactive and loosely bound.
When consumed regularly, especially by people who aren't iron deficient, this form of iron can bypass your body's normal regulatory controls and accumulate over time. Free iron acts as a potent pro-oxidant, promoting oxidative stress, damaging fats in your cells, and triggering inflammation throughout your body.
In your gut, unbound iron can irritate the intestinal lining, disrupt your microbiome balance, and encourage the growth of pathogenic bacteria that thrive on readily available iron.
So how this all comes together in modern bread...
Many people blame gluten alone for their digestive issues with bread, but modern bread represents a convergence of multiple assaults on your digestive system:
- Non-organic grains treated with herbicides and pesticides
- Industrial milling that alters grain structure
- Synthetic vitamins and iron that irritate an already compromised gut lining
- Commercial baker's yeast selected for speed, not digestibility
- Industrial seed oils (soybean, canola, sunflower) added for texture and shelf life
This combination can increase intestinal permeability and immune reactivity, making it increasingly difficult for your body to tolerate gluten-containing foods.
The rapid fermentation used in modern baking leaves little time for the natural breakdown of gluten, phytic acid, and enzyme inhibitors, compounds that traditional long fermentation or sourdough methods would have neutralised. When refined flour meets synthetic vitamins, unbound iron, and inflammatory seed oils, you're left with a product that bears little resemblance to traditional bread.
So why add folic acid to grain products in the first place?
The synthetic form of vitamin B9 is being added to reduce neural tube defects in pregnancy, a worthy goal. But rather than encouraging consumption of folate-rich foods like eggs, and dairy, policymakers chose mass fortification as a one-size-fits-all solution delivered through refined grain staples.
Here's the problem: not everyone needs supplemental folic acid. This is primarily a nutrient found in prenatal vitamins for women who are pregnant or trying to conceive. Yet through mandatory fortification, the entire population, men, children, elderly people, post-menopausal women, consume it daily, often in amounts that exceed what many individuals need or can properly process.
This blanket approach ignores a fundamental question: why should everyone consume a nutrient targeted at preventing a specific pregnancy-related condition? It's the equivalent of adding prenatal vitamins to the water supply. Those who actually need higher folic acid intake can take supplements or consume folate-rich foods. Forcing it into the daily grain consumption of millions who don't need it creates unnecessary exposure to a synthetic compound that may cause problems when it accumulates.
Form matters
The forms used in fortification are chosen for industrial convenience, not biological suitability. Folic acid, reduced iron, ferrous sulfate, and synthetic B vitamins are cheap to manufacture, chemically stable, and survive long storage, high heat, and industrial baking. These qualities make them ideal for food factories but poor substitutes for naturally occurring nutrients.
Natural nutrients exist within whole foods alongside enzymes, minerals, fats, and cofactors that guide absorption and metabolism. Your body recognises and utilises these forms readily, often in balanced ratios that support hormone signalling, methylation, and cellular repair.
Adding synthetic compounds to refined starch doesn't recreate this complexity. It may introduce new imbalances instead.
Unlike natural folate found in animal foods, folic acid must be converted into its active form in your body. When intake exceeds your conversion capacity, un-metabolised folic acid can accumulate in your bloodstream, raising concerns about interference with natural folate metabolism, immune signalling, and critical methylation pathways.
This highlights a fundamental flaw in population-wide fortification: it completely ignores individual differences in genetics, gut health, liver function, and nutrient needs. What works for one person may create problems for another.
So what shall I do instead?
Rather than accepting fortified grains as inevitable, there's a better path forward, one that returns to how grains were consumed for centuries without widespread digestive issues. Choose Whole and Ancient Grains. Whole grains retain the bran, germ, and endosperm, preserving fibre, minerals, fats, and naturally occurring vitamins in their original, balanced state. This intact structure supports digestion, steadier blood sugar, and better mineral absorption compared to refined, enriched flour.
Ancient grains like spelt and einkorn offer particularly compelling alternatives. These grains haven't undergone the intensive hybridisaation of modern wheat and tend to have simpler protein structures. Many people who struggle with modern wheat report significantly better tolerance to spelt or einkorn, especially when prepared traditionally.
Spelt deserves special attention. It contains a more water-soluble gluten structure, higher mineral content, and a broader spectrum of naturally occurring B vitamins compared to modern wheat. Finely milled spelt flour can act as a direct, one-to-one replacement for conventional white flour in most recipes, offering a practical bridge between modern baking expectations and traditional nutrition.
The digestive difference
Many people report that non-fortified grains are noticeably easier to digest than modern fortified flour products. Without added synthetic vitamins, unbound iron, industrial seed oils, and yeast, these grains tend to move through the digestive system more efficiently.
Instead of the heaviness, bloating, or fatigue commonly experienced after eating modern bread, non-fortified grains are often described as light, satisfying, and quick to digest, with more stable energy and less digestive discomfort.
This difference comes down to simplicity and integrity. Non-fortified grains retain their natural structure and nutrient balance, without isolated compounds that can irritate the gut or interfere with normal digestion. When prepared traditionally, especially with slow fermentation, they place far less stress on your digestive system.
Finding non-fortified options
Although fortification is mandatory for standard white flour in many countries, non-fortified options remain widely available. Wholegrain products are exempt, as are certain types of flour such as durum wheat. Imported flour may also be non-fortified, and many health food shops, artisan mills, and specialty stores carry these alternatives. The best ones we find are organic Spelt and Einkorn.
For those sensitive to modern bread, switching to non-fortified grains can be a simple change that makes a noticeable difference in how food feels both during and after digestion.
Sourdough fermentation
How grains are prepared matters as much as which grains you choose. Traditional breads relied on whole-food leavening methods rather than commercial yeast.
Sourdough fermentation uses a natural starter composed of wild yeasts and beneficial bacteria. This slow fermentation process:
- Partially breaks down gluten
- Reduces phytic acid (which blocks mineral absorption)
- Improves mineral bioavailability
- Creates bread that's easier to digest and metabolically gentler
Sourdough starter can be used across a wide range of bakes, breads, pancakes, flatbreads, and even some cakes, replacing both commercial yeast and chemical raising agents. These traditional methods reflect an older understanding of food preparation that prioritised digestibility and nutrient access rather than speed and profit.
How to make your own sourdough starter
Creating a sourdough starter with ancient grain spelt is surprisingly simple:
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Mix equal parts wholegrain spelt flour and filtered water in a clean jar
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Cover loosely and leave at room temperature
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Feed daily by adding fresh flour and water in equal parts - no need to discard!
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Wait 4-5 days until the starter becomes bubbly, mildly sour, and reliably rises and falls
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Use once it doubles in size within a few hours of feeding
Once active, your starter replaces commercial yeast entirely, connecting you to centuries of traditional bread-making wisdom.
The bottom line
Fortification is a way to artificially add back in what may or may not be lost while ignoring the consequences of these cheap synthetic vitamins. It attempts to compensate for the loss of nutrient-dense, traditionally consumed whole foods by layering synthetic vitamins onto nutritionally depleted products.
Rather than genuinely correcting deficiencies in the modern diet, fortification reinforces a food system that favours industrial efficiency and shelf stability over true nutritional sufficiency and metabolic health.
The alternative isn't complicated. Whole grains, ancient varieties like spelt and einkorn, proper milling that preserves the grain's integrity, and sourdough fermentation offer a fundamentally different approach, one that treats grains as whole foods rather than delivery vehicles for synthetic nutrients.
This is how grains were historically consumed, and it's how they can be consumed today for better digestion, nutrient utilisation, and long-term health.
