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California leads push to add key vitamin to corn tortillas, aimed at reducing Latino birth defects (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 2 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

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California is the first state to require food makers to add folic acid, a crucial vitamin, to corn masa flour used to make tortillas and other foods

Fifteen years after she lost her first baby to a rare and devastating birth defect, Andrea Lopez takes comfort in knowing that other Latina mothers might finally avoid the same pain.

In January, California became the first state to require food makers to add folic acid, a crucial vitamin, to corn masa flour used to make tortillas and other traditional foods widely used in her community.

It’s a long-delayed move aimed at reducing Hispanic infants' disproportionately high rates of serious conditions called neural tube defects, which claimed Lopez’s son, Gabriel Cude, when he was 10 days old.

“It’s such a small effort for such a tremendous impact,” said Lopez, 44, who lives in Bakersfield and is now a lawyer with two young daughters. “There is very little that I wouldn’t do to spare anybody this heartache.”

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[–] blarghly@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago

Folate and folic acid are forms of vitamin B9 used for deficiency and to prevent pregnancy complications. Many foods contain folate or have folic acid added.Since 1998, folic acid has been added to cold cereals, flour, breads, pasta, bakery items, cookies, and crackers, as required by federal law. Foods that are naturally high in folate include leafy vegetables, okra, asparagus, certain fruits, beans, yeast, mushrooms, animal liver and kidney, orange juice, and tomato juice. Folic acid is also available as a supplement, and is often used in combination with other B vitamins.Folic acid is used for preventing and treating low blood levels of folate (folate deficiency) and high blood levels of homocysteine (hyperhomocysteinemia). Folic acid is also taken during pregnancy to prevent serious birth defects such as spina bifida. Folic acid is also used for many other conditions including depression, stroke, decline in memory and thinking skills, and many others.

So basically, we've been adding it to bread and cereal for years for exactly the same reason, and now Cali wants to put it in tortillas. In an ideal world, I think a better solution would be to skip the artificial supplementation entirely and just get everyone to eat some spinach - but it's not an ideal world, and this is a cheap and easy way to prevent birth defects. Good job!