SHORT COMMUNICATION Research goals for folate and related B vitamin in Europe PM Finglas 1 , K de Meer 2 , A Molloy 3 , P Verhoef 4 , K Pietrzik 5 , HJ Powers 6 , D van der Straeten 7 , M Ja ¨gerstad 8 , G Varela-Moreiras 9 , T van Vliet 10 , R Havenaar 10 , J Buttriss 11 and AJA Wright 1 1 Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich, UK; 2 Department of Clinical Chemistry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 3 Department of Biochemistry, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; 4 Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences & Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands; 5 Institute of Nutritional Sciences, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany; 6 Division of Clinical Sciences, Centre for Human Nutrition, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; 7 Department of Molecular Genetics, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium; 8 Department of Food Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden; 9 Departamento de Nutricio´n y Bromatologı´a, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, Madrid, Spain; 10 TNO Nutrition and Food Research, Zeist, The Netherlands and 11 British Nutrition Foundation, London, UK In the past decade, the understanding of folate bioavailability, metabolism and related health issues has increased, but several problems remain, including the difficulty of delivering the available knowledge to the populations at risk. Owing to the low compliance of taking folic acid supplements, for example, among women of child-bearing age who could lower the risk of having a baby with a neural tube defect, food-based strategies aimed at increasing the intake of folate and other B-group vitamins should be a priority for future research. These should include the development of a combined strategy of supplemental folate (possibly with vitamin B 12 ), biofortification using engineered plant-derived foods and micro-organisms and food fortification for increasing folate intakes in the general population. Currently, the most effective population-based strategy to reduce NTDs remains folic acid fortification. However, the possible adverse effect of high intakes of folic acid on neurologic functioning among elderly persons with vitamin B 12 deficiency needs urgent investigation. The results of ongoing randomized controlled studies aimed at reducing the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia and related morbidity must be available before food-based total population approaches for treatment of hyperhomocysteinemia can be recommended. Further research is required on quantitative assessment of folate intake and bioavailability, along with a more thorough understanding of physiological, biochemical and genetic processes involved in folate absorption and metabolism. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2006) 60, 287–294. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602315; published online 26 October 2005 Keywords: food; folate; neural tube defect; homocysteine; cancer; fortification Introduction Many issues relating to folate (the prevention of neural tube defects, the reduction of hyperhomocysteinemia, the mini- mization of cancer risk, the bioavailability from foods and potential strategies to increase dietary folate intakes) were discussed in February 2004 in Warsaw during the First International Conference on Folates: Analysis, Bioavailabil- ity and Health (EuroFoodFolate). Over 160 delegates from over 18 countries attended the meeting, including world known researchers, young scientists and students, not only from Europe but also from the USA and Australia. The conference was organized with support from the European Commission, and featured the latest results and findings from the ongoing European Union framework programme Received 3 February 2005; revised 18 August 2005; accepted 7 September 2005; published online 26 October 2005 Correspondence: Dr PM Finglas, Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich, NR4 7UA Norfolk, UK. E-mail: paul.finglas@bbsrc.ac.uk Guarantor: PM Finglas. Contributors: KDM and PF prepared the original draft and edited the various contributions and remarks from the other authors; AM prepared the section on neural tube defects; PV and KP prepared the section on hyperhomocys- teinemia; HP and GVM prepared the section on cancer; KDM and AM prepared the section on vitamin B 12 ; AW, MJ, TVV, RH and JB prepared the section on bioavailability and potential strategies to increase dietary folate intakes; and DVS and MJ prepared the section on biotechnology. This work is dedicated to Professor Clive West (deceased August 27, 2004; Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, The Netherlands), who was an outstanding researcher in the field of vitamin bioavailability and status, and contributed to the Conference. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2006) 60, 287–294 & 2006 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved 0954-3007/06 $30.00 www.nature.com/ejcn