Folic Acid in Pakistan

The NHS says taking folic acid during this time reduces the chance of your baby having a neural tube defect, a problem with the brain or spine such as spina bifida, and that taking it for longer than 12 weeks will not harm your baby. If you think you need the higher dose, speak to your doctor first.

• Zafa’s Folic Acid Tablets 5mg are registered with DRAP (registration 000859, status provisionally active), in bottles of 100, and DRAP’s notified maximum price is Rs 102.44 per 100 tablets.
• On 18 December 2024, DRAP recalled Zafa folic acid batches 490 and 612 (alert I/S/12-24-56), after the Drug Testing Laboratory, Quetta declared them substandard on uniformity of weight. DRAP told consumers to stop using products from those batches. We will dispense it only after checking that our stock is not from either batch.
• The UK label for 5 mg folic acid tablets says they are not intended for healthy pregnant women, for whom lower doses are recommended.

• The NHS describes folic acid as a man-made version of vitamin B9, which is also known as folate. Methylfolate (5-MTHF, or L-methylfolate) is another form of folate found in some supplements, according to the NIH.
• The NIH says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends 400 mcg a day of folic acid, not methylfolate, for people who could become pregnant. The NIH also says methylfolate in supplements is absorbed as well as or better than folic acid.
• On our shelf, Nutrifactor, MediGreen and Sois are folic acid; Qfolic, Mom-Folic, Maxfol, Adfolic and NutraFolate are methylfolate, according to their packs.

• Warning: The NHS says doses of folic acid higher than 1 mg can mask the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency, which can eventually damage the nervous system if it isn’t spotted and treated, and that this is a particular concern for older people.
• The NIH reports an upper limit of 1,000 mcg a day for adults, including in pregnancy, for folate from supplements and fortified foods, set by the US Food and Nutrition Board; the European Food Safety Authority sets the same limit and applies it to methylfolate too. The NIH says the limit does not apply to high doses taken under medical supervision.
• Warning: The NHS says folic acid tablets may not be suitable if you have vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia or pernicious anaemia, have a coronary stent, or have cancer, or if you have had an allergic reaction to folic acid before.
• The NHS lists medicines that may not mix well with folic acid: epilepsy medicines such as phenytoin, phenobarbital and primidone; the antibiotics chloramphenicol and co-trimoxazole; sulfasalazine; lithium; and aspirin.

From the NHS vitamin B page, the NHS folic acid medicine page, the NIH folate fact sheet and the EFSA’s 2023 opinion on folate.

• You’re planning a pregnancy and you or your partner live with a condition such as epilepsy, diabetes, sickle cell disease or HIV, or take prescribed or over-the-counter medicine or herbal remedies.
• You may need the higher 5 mg dose: we dispense it only against a doctor’s prescription.
• Warning: You get a swollen face, throat or tongue, a raised itchy rash or difficulty breathing after taking folic acid: the NHS says this can be anaphylaxis, a serious allergic reaction.
• Warning: You have taken more tablets than prescribed or recommended.

Based on the NHS folic acid medicine page and the NHS pregnancy vitamins page, and the NHS advice on trying to get pregnant.

When we searched DRAP’s drug registry on 4 November 2026, none of the shelf brands was listed as a registered drug. DRAP’s Health & OTC product index was unavailable when we tried to check on 4 and 5 November 2026. Under S.R.O. 1688(I)/2026 of 6 October 2026, DRAP notified food supplements in pharmaceutical dosage forms as therapeutic goods under the DRAP Act, 2012.