There is an outcry in New Zealand about a plan to put a health additive in the nation’s bread.

Supermarket suppliers and bakers say they want the government to protect them from lawsuits about a new product to be put in the daily loaf.

Questions are growing about the health impact of the food additive.

The New Zealand Herald reports that in four months’ time, bakers must begin putting a synthetic form of folic acid into almost every loaf made in New Zealand.

It says the the move is going ahead despite a market research survey for the government that shows 87 per cent of New Zealanders oppose the move.

The plan aims to reduce the number of brain-damaged babies.

Benefit doubted

However, some authorities say the reduction may be a few as four a year.

The NZ Bakers’ Association has labelled the compulsory introduction “mass medication” of the population and warned that bread containing folic acid will be less safe than it is now.

New Zealand Food Safety Minister Kate Wilkinson says the government is concerned about the scheme.

She said she had “inherited” the plan from the previous Labour government and the Food Safety Authority is preparing advice on the latest research.