Ana’s Story: Why tortillas sold in California may be forced to add a new ingredient
California is struggling to provide maternal health for its residents. But as one proposal aims to prevent birth defects, another has received hateful pushback that’s been condemned by both political parties.
As CalMatters health reporter Ana B. Ibarra writes, Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula has introduced a bill that would require corn masa flour makers to add 0.7 milligrams of folic acid per pound of flour. Though federal law requires other grain products, such as cereals, breads and pasta, be fortified with folic acid, corn masa flour is not included. The corn flour is a key ingredient used in many classic Latino foods.
Arambula, a Fresno Democrat and physician, to CalMatters: “Food is the best way that we can get folic acid into our communities before they’re pregnant. Oftentimes the prenatal vitamins that we give to pregnant people are too late.”
Research has shown that folic acid, which can be found in prenatal and women’s multi-vitamins, promotes healthy cell growth, and can prevent birth defects when taken before and during the early weeks of pregnancy. Since 1998, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration handed down the requirement, the proportion of babies born with neural tube defects dropped by 35%.
But between 2017 and 2019, only about 28% of Latinas reported taking folic acid the month before becoming pregnant, compared to 46% of white women. Women on Medi-Cal, the state’s health insurance program for low-income families, are also less likely to take folic acid before pregnancy compared to women on private insurance.
To learn more about the proposal, read Ana’s story.