Mon, Nov 02, 2020 page5

• Virus Outbreak: Scientists urge UK to add vitamin D to bread, milk

  BUILDING FORTITUDE: A widespread deficiency of the vitamin in the UK’s population shows that government guidance on supplements is failing

  • The Observer
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  Scientists are calling for UK ministers to add vitamin D to common foods such as bread and milk to help the fight against COVID-19.

  Up to half the UK population has a vitamin D deficiency, and government guidance that people should take supplements is not working, according to a group convened by Gareth Davies, a medical physics researcher.

  Low levels of vitamin D, which our bodies produce in response to strong sunlight, might lead to a greater risk of catching the coronavirus or suffering more severe effects of infection, according to some studies.

  Last week, researchers in Spain found that 82 percent of COVID-19 patients out of 216 admitted to hospital had low vitamin D levels.

  However, the picture is mixed — some research shows that vitamin D levels have little or no effect on COVID-19, flu and other respiratory diseases.

  Vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults — soft bones that lead to deformities — and children with severe vitamin D deficiency are prone to hypocalcaemia — low levels of calcium in the blood — which leads to seizures and heart failure.

  However, Public Health England and the UK Department of Health and Social Care have rejected calls over the past 10 years to fortify foods such as milk, bread and orange juice, which is the practice in Finland, Sweden, Australia and Canada.

  “In my opinion, it is clear that vitamin D could not only protect against disease severity, but could also protect against infection,” Davies said. “Food fortification would need careful planning to be rolled out effectively, particularly as people are now taking supplements. Picking the right foods to fortify would need to be done carefully.”

  “But it’s clear that the current policy is not working — at least half the population have a vitamin D deficiency,” he said.

  Adrian Martineau, a professor of respiratory infection at Queen Mary University in London, who is not part of Davies’s group, is leading a clinical trial to examine whether vitamin D can reduce the risk of COVID-19, or its severity.

  The Coronavit study, which began last week and is backed by the Barts Charity, the Fischer Family Trust and the AIM Foundation, is to follow more than 5,000 people through the winter.

  “The government recommends that the whole population takes vitamin D supplements in winter months, and those in high risk groups take it all year round, but we know that people just aren’t doing that in any significant numbers,” Martineau said. “Even I forget to take my supplement sometimes, and I’m living and breathing this subject. Fortification is a really good way of eliminating deficiency.”

  Our bodies produce vitamin D in response to strong sunlight. In the UK, that means that from October to March, people need to rely on other sources: oily fish, eggs and food supplements.

  Some foods, such as breakfast cereals and mushrooms are fortified with vitamin D, and people in low-income households are entitled to free multivitamins.

  A study last year at the University of Birmingham, led by Magda Aguiar, a health economist, showed there would be at least 25 percent fewer cases of vitamin D deficiency over the next 90 years if flour fortification were adopted, saving about ￡65 million (US$84.14 million).
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