Law to require folic acid in tortillas

This must be the place GUIDES TO LOCAL GEMS.

- BY ANA B. IBARRA

UNDER a new law, corn tortillas will be required to contain folic acid, a vitamin essential to infant health.

(DANIELE DORSEY Los Angeles Times)

Tortillas sold in California are going to have a new ingredient, one that’s intended to help nurture healthy infants.

Starting Jan. 1, a new law will take effect requiring most tortillas and corn masa products sold in the state to contain folic acid, a vitamin that’s important to infant health.

Latinas in California are far less likely than other women to get enough folic acid early in pregnancy — a gap that can lead to life-altering birth defects.

State data show that, between 2017 and 2019 - the latest years for which state data are available — about 28% of Latinas reported taking folic acid the month before becoming pregnant. White women took the vitamin at a higher rate, with 46% of them reporting consuming folic acid, according to the California Department of Public Health.