California's new law mandates food makers to add folic acid to corn masa flour used for tortillas and other traditional foods, with a similar requirement taking effect in Alabama in June. Legislation is pending or being considered in Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Oregon, while four more states—Texas, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—have expressed active interest in the issue. , a 1998 requirement that cut rates of serious defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly by about 30%, preventing approximately 1,300 cases a year.
However, corn masa flour was left out of the original fortification, and in 2016, federal regulators allowed but did not require folic acid addition to corn masa products; by 2023, only about one in seven corn masa flour products and no corn tortillas contained folic acid. In California, the rate of neural tube defects among Hispanic mothers is twice as high as for white or Black women, and the new law could help expand adoption nationwide due to the state's huge buying power. , the parent company of Mission Foods and Azteca Milling, has been involved in the fortification issue for nearly two decades.
It’s such a small effort for such a tremendous impact. There is very little that I wouldn’t do to spare anybody this heartache.
S. should have access to folic acid for healthy babies, and Joaquin Arambula noted the importance of being first to initiate broader adoption. The projected impact on reducing neural tube defect rates among Hispanic infants and barriers to nationwide adoption are not yet known, and it is uncertain how many other states beyond those mentioned are considering similar legislation.
All women and children in the United States should have access to folic acid and have healthy babies.