California Just Required Folic Acid in Corn Tortillas — and It Could Save Babies' Lives
For nearly 30 years, folic acid has been required in wheat bread, cereals, and pasta in the United States. That requirement helped cut serious birth defects like spina bifida and anencephaly by around 30 percent — preventing roughly 1,300 cases every year and earning its place as one of the great public health wins of the 20th century.
Corn masa flour — the staple behind tortillas, tamales, and dozens of other foods central to Latino diets — was left out of that requirement entirely. And the consequences have been real.
California just changed that.
What the New Law Does
In January, California became the first state to require folic acid be added to corn masa flour. Alabama follows in June. Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Oregon have legislation pending or in consideration. Texas, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have expressed active interest.
The math on why this matters is pretty simple. Hispanic women have the highest rates of neural tube defect pregnancies in the country. In California specifically, the rate among Hispanic mothers is twice as high as for white or Black women. Corn masa is a dietary staple in those communities — and for decades it didn't carry the same folic acid fortification that other grains did.
By 2023 only about one in seven corn masa flour products contained folic acid. Zero corn tortillas did.
Why It Took So Long
Federal regulators allowed — but never required — folic acid in corn masa products back in 2016. Industry concerns about flavor and labeling costs slowed things down. The voluntary approach barely moved the needle.
California's law changed the calculus. The state's enormous buying power pushed major producers to act. Gruma, the parent company behind Mission Foods and the Maseca brand, now has 97 percent of its US retail sales fortified and expects to hit 100 percent before July. Mission Foods started adding folic acid to all its corn tortillas in 2024.
"I think overall the train has left the station," said Jim Kabbani, head of the Tortilla Industry Association.
Why This Can't Wait Until Someone Knows They're Pregnant
Neural tube defects happen in the first weeks after conception — often before a woman even knows she's pregnant. More than 40 percent of US pregnancies are unintended. By the time prenatal vitamins start, the window for preventing these defects has often already closed.
"Even women's best efforts in going to an OB right away and starting prenatal vitamins — it's just too late," said Dr. Kimberly BeDell, medical director of a spina bifida rehabilitation clinic in Long Beach.
Fortifying the food supply means the nutrient reaches people whether they're planning a pregnancy or not. That's the whole point.
The Human Cost of Waiting
Andrea Lopez was 28 and pregnant with her first child when an ultrasound revealed her baby had anencephaly — a fatal condition where the skull fails to develop. She didn't know about folic acid. Nobody had told her it might be missing from her diet.
Her son Gabriel lived for 10 days.
"Trust me, you don't want to go through this," Lopez said. "He's the love of my life. He is my only son."
Gabriel would have been a high school freshman this year. Lopez is now a lawyer and an advocate for the law that might have saved him.
The Pushback
Not everyone supports this. RFK Jr. called California's fortification law "insanity" in a post last year, claiming the state was "waging war against her children." His spokesperson declined to explain the comments.
Social media has amplified claims that folic acid is toxic or that a common gene variant called MTHFR prevents people from processing it. Medical experts say neither claim is accurate. The CDC is explicit — people with the MTHFR variant can process folic acid just fine.
Even Kennedy's own federal dietary guidelines acknowledge that folic acid is "critical" before conception and during early pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects.
The science on this isn't complicated. Adding folic acid to corn masa the way it's been added to wheat products for three decades is safe, proven, and cheap. And it literally can save a child’s life. The only question was always why it took this long, given how much data exists to back it up.
Curious for more stories that keep you informed and entertained? From the latest headlines to everyday insights, YourLifeBuzz has more to explore. Dive into what’s next.